The Wiggles, Red Nose Day and baby Bernadette

Oct 1, 2025

Paul Field, a musician and former member of The Cockroaches, shares his heartfelt journey through the grief of losing his baby daughter, Bernadette, to SIDS. He discusses how this tragedy inspired the creation of The Wiggles, a beloved band that brings joy to children worldwide. Paul also delves into the support he found through Red Nose Australia and the importance of discussing child loss openly. His story highlights the healing power of music and community in the face of unimaginable loss.

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ANECDOTE

Sudden Loss On The Road

Paul Field recounts the sudden death of his 7-month-old daughter Bernadette from SIDS while he was on tour with The Cockroaches.
He describes the immediate shock, Pauline's reaction, and compassionate nurses who stayed with the baby during transfer for postmortem.

ANECDOTE

Protecting A Toddler Through Grief

Paul describes how his two-year-old son Luke instinctively reacted to the family's grief and how parents kept him close afterwards.
He explains using simple explanations for Luke and involving later children in remembering Bernadette at anniversaries.

ANECDOTE

Turning Funerals Into Nurturing Memory

Paul and Pauline involved family, hymns and Celtic songs in Bernadette's funeral and Paul insisted on carrying her tiny coffin.
He now treasures the funeral memories as beautiful moments that nurtured his grieving process.

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Musician Paul Field on grieving the death of his baby girl, Bernadette, and how she inspired his family band, The Wiggles, to bring joy into the lives of millions of children. CW: This episode of Conversations discusses the death of a child.

Paul Field was on tour in Queensland with his band, the Cockroaches, when he received a call that would alter his life forever.

His 7-month-old baby daughter, Bernadette, had unexpectedly died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Paul and his wife, Pauline, had never imagined they would one day plan a funeral for their baby, but that's what they had to do.

Surrounded by their close-knit families and with support from mental health professionals, Paul and Pauline grieved differently but together, realising that fully reckoning with the their tragic loss was the only way they could move forward for their eldest son, Luke, and for the three more children to come.

Today, Paul loves finding any opportunity to talk about Bernadette, his gentle, joyful baby girl.

In fact, Bernadette, changed the course of Paul's next family project: The Wiggles -- a band that has connected with millions of children for the last 30 years.

Help and support is always available. You can call or text Lifeline 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Read more about research into SIDS, and find out more about counselling services available to parents who have lost a child at the Red Nose website.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.

It explores unexplained death of a child, how to cope with losing a child, loss, Red Nose Day, Sids for Kids, grief, marriage, love, relationships, music, family bands, big families, Irish Catholic families, Sydney in the 1980s, pub rock, skivvies, Anthony Field, Emma Watkins, Dorothy the Dinosaur, Greg Page, Jeff Fatt, Wake up Jeff, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce, Tsehay Hawkins, Evie Ferris, John Pearce, Caterina Mete, Lucia Field, big red car, police corruption, NSW police, royal commission, Sydney gangs, drugs, substance abuse.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.