When Nikita Razo had a miscarriage she realised she had become part of a large secret group.
And in an effort to help break the silence surrounding pregnancy loss, she decided to create a powerful photo series that allows women to publically acknowledge their loss.
Razo, who is a birth and family photographer, took photos of women holding white balloons – one for each pregnancies they had lost.
"Each white balloon signifies [one] loss that the woman holding it has experienced. Some have living children, and some do not. But all are mothers in their own way. And all have decided to help break the silence," Razo explains.
Razo says she has done because those losses shouldn't be swept under the carpet. "Pregnancy and infant loss isn't something that should be met with embarrassment, guilt, or shame, but rather acceptance, love, and support," she wrote in a Facebook post.
Each of the women shared their own story alongside their photo. One of the women was pictured holding eight balloons.
One participant, Jennifer Merkley, wrote, "While these days it is much more common to talk about miscarriage and pregnancy loss, it is still an incredibly difficult subject to talk about personally.
"I miss my babies every single day, I worry about talking about it too much. I've heard too often from people that I 'just need to move on and accept I'm not supposed to be a parent'.
"None of these words make the journey easier, in fact, they make it even harder."
Another woman held 12 white balloons. Sharing her story, Jesica Beal Ogden wrote, "This January [my husband and I] will have been married for 11 years, and nine of those were spent trying to have children," she wrote.
"We were blessed with the opportunity to adopt a baby born just for us. After our son came, we had a few more miscarriages and we finally said: 'Ok, enough.'"
All of the stories were posted Razo's Facebook page, along with the hashtag #breakthesilience. Razo says that she hopes the photos will help women remember the babies that were "too precious for earth".
She also encourages women to reach out to others who might be hurting. "Let them know that you are there," she says.
"Together, we can make a change. Because the last thing I want is for a woman to feel like she has to go through this journey alone."