A Queensland father grieving for his son, who was stillborn in 2014, now helps other bereaved parents cope by sketching their lost babies as memorial keepsakes.

Each year in Australia about 106,000 couples experience reproductive loss, according to Sands Australia - a not-for-profit organisation of volunteer bereaved parents that support other parents who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth and newborn deaths.

About 103,000 couples experience miscarriage (early pregnancy loss), 2,250 babies are stillborn and about 750 babies die in the first 28 days after birth each year, Sands Australia says.

Now a volunteer with the group, Glenn Ainsworth said he felt like he had "really been hit by a bus" when his son Baxter was stillborn in February last year.

"As far as my wife Nik - I was sort of really supporting her I suppose," he said.

"Being a guy, asking for help is one of those things that you don't really do.

"From a guy's point of view, you're only really meeting the little guy for the first time, whereas as a lady who has carried that baby for nine months, it is part of [her]."

Anyone affected by the death of a baby can contact Sands by: 24/7 Sands support line 1300 0 SANDS (1300 0 72637) and talk to a bereaved parent volunteer

24/7 Sands support line 1300 0 SANDS (1300 0 72637) and talk to a bereaved parent volunteer www.sands.org.au

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Mr Ainsworth works in civil engineering and as he had always been able to draw since his early career as a draughtsman, he drew a sketch of his son at the time to help him cope and honour his son's memory.

"After seeing Bax - you only get to spend a limited amount of time with him - you just want to burn him into your head," he said.

"I think the thing is to, you're proud of this person, but you're also in fear of offending people by showing them a photo because you don't know how they're going to react."

He recalled he felt that first-hand a few years ago after a family friend lost their baby.

"Their mother actually pulled a photo of their little girl out of her purse and showed - I was in the room - and she showed my mum and I was like 'jeez' - I was taken aback by it," he said.

"Then after all this happened [to us], I felt so embarrassed and I thought back to that situation and how selfish and immature I was, to be taken aback by a little person who had not offended anyone or done anything wrong.

"Why is it that someone in this situation can't show off their baby? I think that's wrong."

'Parents give me the photos they have'

Mr Ainsworth said that led him to offer other bereaved parents sketches of their babies through Sands Queensland.

"If you can give some families some sort of comfort that when they want to show anyone their sketch that they've done - or they want to keep it to themselves, it's up to them - but just to give the opportunity to show their baby off, if that's something I can give to someone then that's great," he said.

"Keeps you sane - [drawing is] something I've always had that I can just fall back on, get lost in it I suppose for a few hours - feels like a couple of minutes when you're doing it."

However, he said at times it was quite confronting for him to do, as he drew the sketches from a small amount of photos that bereaved parents may have.

"I'm probably one of the few who will cry over other people's babies as well," he said.

"[Parents] give what they have - there's been some that have been quite early term and there's been others in full-term, but a lot of them have some sort of injury or skin tear and stuff like that from being born or other things.

"There's been a couple where the person wants to be without [medical equipment] cords or they want to see everything still attached.

"That's the thing, making up a picture from three or four photos, you have [to try] to steel yourself and have a look at photos and leave it for a week and then [begin drawing]."

'Taboo until it happens to you'

Mr Ainsworth said losing his son revealed how common pregnancy loss was.

"It's taboo until it happens to you - once you get past the 20-week scan you're home and hosed, but you never expect to take a baby seat back to the ambulance, or carry some ashes up the stairs, and pack away a baby's room - that's just horrible," he said.

How to cope: Be gentle to yourself

You may feel a range of emotions, from sadness, anger and guilt, to feeling at peace. This is normal. Give yourself time and space to feel whatever you are feeling. Go for a walk, look at pictures of your baby - do whatever makes you happy. Lean on family and friends

Spend time with family and friends who understand. Talk about your baby, you may find that hearing your baby's name can be soothing. If you want to just be on your own that is OK too. Honour your baby

Give a donation, light a candle or plant a tree. Doing something to honour your baby's memory can be comforting. Write a letter

Many find that writing a letter to their baby is a powerful way to express and work through their feelings. Speak to a Sands parent supporter

Talking to someone who can relate can be very helpful. The Sands Support line is available 24/7 for anyone affected by the death of a baby. All Sands parent volunteer supporters have been through the heartache of pregnancy loss or have experienced newborn death themselves. Source: Sands Australia

"We still sleep with Baxter's teddy bear that they gave us in the hospital - I don't find any of that silly any more."

But Mr Ainsworth said he felt he had not really coped so well with his own situation and that was one of the reasons why he needed to share his experience so it may help other dads.

"I know I have been there to support Nik and that has been my number one objective," he said.

"But other than that, for at least the first six months I cried for the full 40-minute trip to work, got it out of my system, and then did it again on the way home.

"At the lowest point I felt like running my car off the road as the pain was too great.

"The only reason I didn't, as I would have failed in my role as Nik's protector and also just lumped the pain I was feeling onto those close to me - that would have been so unfair.

"The things that have helped me through have been the love from the group of friends and family around me, playing sport, and of course my drawing and painting that gave me an outlet."

He said it still hits him hard when people made comments that could be unintentionally hurtful.

"It is when people complain about the noise their kids are making or when they say they need a break from them," he said.

"There is something worse - it is the sound of not having them there."

First drawing for another grieving couple

Mr Ainsworth said he did his first drawing for another couple after his wife Nik found another mother who lived nearby them and had been a good comfort to her through the Sands group.

"They lost their little boy - I think Henry would have been about 36 weeks," he said.

"She and her husband had quite a few uncanny similarities as to where we had Baxter's funeral, they got married in that same little church, and just little crazy things, and they lost Henry at a very similar time to when we lost Bax.

"Because [Henry] was a little premature as well and they were in the same sort of shock in hospital, they didn't really have any photos of Henry.

"After I could do one for Bax - and it was just me trying to deal with it a little bit in a way I knew how - I did a picture for them as they didn't have too many photos that they wanted to show people.

"So I thought this might be nice for other people in this same situation.

"I get a lot of nice emails from parents, which is good, really nice."