The "White Pumpkin Project" is not a formal, single organization but a widely adopted symbol and tradition within the pregnancy and infant loss community to honor and remember babies who have passed away too soon. Families display a white pumpkin on their porch or in their home to show support and remembrance during Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month in October. It serves as a personal, visible way to acknowledge the loss of a child, whether through miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death, and offers a sense of shared understanding and connection among bereaved parents.

The below poem, The White Pumpkin by Jennifer Giles, was written by a momma who also lost her baby girl at 38 weeks.

The White Pumpkin

by Jennifer Giles

This is the story
Of a pumpkin of white
What is its place on this autumn night?
Amidst all the orange and colors of fall
It seems out of place; not belonging at all
But oh what a place, and oh what a story
You see, in its face lies the image of glory

Of babies so small, so incredibly tiny
Perfect in purpose, their souls shining brightly
No less a baby, a child just the same
As one who was held and called by their name
Was my baby a he?
Or was she a she?
What would my child have grown up to be?
Yet bigger than questions and what ifs and whys
Is the comfort they feel when they look to the skies
For their hope is the truth that they so tightly cling
“I’ll know all the answers, understand everything
on the day that God hands my child back to me”

This pumpkin is sweet baby boys and girls
Who never opened their eyes to this world
Never cried, never feared
Protected from pain
Touched by their innocence
We’re never the same
Lives perfect and pure
All things lovely and sweet
And we honor them here
‘Till heaven we meet

This pumpkin is all of the sweet little ones
Whose lives although short were covered in love
In kisses and snuggles, rocking and playing
Their parents not knowing they wouldn’t be staying
But the time that they had they would never trade
Even if they could be saved from the pain
Their cribs may be empty, but the promise remains
One day they’ll hold their babies again

This pumpkin is for all these sweet angel friends
Whose parents all know this isn’t the end
And how they are doing
Tonight up in heaven
Is better than anything we could imagine
Though we’re missing our children
And we’re still on this side
Our hearts will continue to swell with pride
At the special, the wondrous, the out of place things
Like this white pumpkin, and the joy that it brings
A reminder that our children are more than alive
They are perfectly whole, all things are made right

Angel parents, I know there’s still tears to be shed
But I hope that this pumpkin brings peace instead
Our babies are promised forever in heaven
And that’s the best gift we could ever be given