It doesn’t matter if an expectant mother was 10, 16 or 24 weeks pregnant when she lost her baby. No matter the length of time, it’s an overwhelming loss.

That tragedy, often experienced by mothers and families in their own homes, inspired Sarah Ernst to shine a light on the topic.

To honor Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day on Wednesday, Ernst, a senior research specialist in the pathology department at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, helped organize an effort to illuminate the dome at the top of the hospital’s Billings Building off North Broadway Street in pink and blue for a second year. M&T Bank Stadium and the Warehouse at Camden Yards will also display the same colors, according to the Baltimore Ravens and the Maryland Stadium Authority.

I never knew such a day existed, even though I have my own loss of a baby to remember. After speaking with Ernst and other mothers, I’m more confident that even a little awareness helps alleviate the stigma, rallies our communities to the cause and creates a more welcoming environment for people to share their own stories.

Ernst said she hadn’t noticed the lit dome before, even though she’s worked at the hospital for nearly 10 years. In addition to being her employer, Hopkins has also been a big part of Ernst’s motherhood.

The East Baltimore hospital is where she had to navigate some of her toughest times: the pregnancy losses of a daughter, Lily, at 12 weeks; a son, Carson, at 16 weeks; and two other, very early pregnancies. But its delivery rooms also ushered in some of her happiest moments when she gave birth to two sons: Hunter, now 5, and Connor, who is 2.

“Without the doctors I had here, I would not have my rainbow babies,” said Ernst, adding that doctors also saved her life when she had postpartum preeclampsia.

Last year, Ernst asked if the dome could be lit pink and blue to honor the day of remembrance. This year, when she said she went to ask again, someone had already requested it.

“If I just showed one person that they were not alone, that was my goal,” said the 34-year-old who lives in Baltimore County.

People also commemorate the remembrance through a “wave of light” vigil, where participants around the world light candles for the little ones they lost. In Maryland, other recognitions happen during memorial walks and online vigils.

Ernst has used her experiences to advocate for other changes. She noticed there weren’t resources for her when she was processing her losses. So she and her friend Katie Benden started a nonprofit in 2024 called Maryland Lighthouse Chapter of Reflections Grief & Wellness Care.

Through a grant, the nonprofit recently created bereavement packages stocked with a journal, a candle, a copy of the book, “Wherever You Are: My Love Will Find You,” and a kit for preserving baby handprints.

Ernst said she will never forget a very kind nurse who offered to get the handprints of the son who she lost at 16 weeks. They’re now engraved in a necklace that she wears every day.

Brittany Croteau said she wasn’t aware that there was a specific day that recognized lost pregnancies and infants.

Croteau, 36, experienced a first trimester miscarriage in 2019 before having her daughter in August 2020.

“It’s a bad club to be a part of,” said Croteau, who lives in Lauraville and occasionally creates social media posts promoting kindness to honor the month.

But it’s a club nonetheless, and a large one at that.

Somewhere between 20% and 30% of pregnancies end in miscarriages, according to estimates from Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Beatrice Thrift told me that pregnancy and child loss can feel like a hushed situation despite its frequency. Thrift, 39, lost twins she delivered at 24 weeks in 2016 due to preeclampsia. During that time, she said she didn’t know anyone else who had gone through it, leaving her lonely and isolated.

“I always wanted to share my story because I didn’t want anyone else to go through that,” said Thrift, who lives in Anne Arundel County with her 2-year-old son and a daughter who is about to turn 1.

Ernst said she hopes the pink and blue lights momentum continues each year and spreads to new sites throughout the city.

The goal, she said, “is to just get as many landmarks to do it and open up that conversation so people understand that it’s so common.”