Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness

 Today, October 15th, is Infant & Pregnancy Loss Awareness Day.

It’s a day to remember and to honor our little ones – our babies we got to hold for only a very short time, and then had to release to heaven. It’s a day to acknowledge that the loss is real. It’s a day to say, We still love you. We still miss you.

When I had my miscarriage this past June, and shared the story publicly, I was blown away by all the women in my life who told me that they, too, had lost a baby. Some had miscarried once, others two or three times. For some it had been just a month before, others 40 years ago, but they all remembered. They remembered the experience, the emotion, the grief.

And for me, talking to them was part of my healing. There’s an instant bond between women who have shared this experience, the death of a baby – a bond of being able to truly say I understand what you’re going through. So I am thankful for the women in my life who bravely spoke up, letting me know that they understood my grief, that they had been where I was. It’s so easy to feel isolated after having a miscarriage, and knowing I wasn’t alone made a huge difference.

Since then, roles have reversed. Now I’ve had the opportunity to be the woman who went through a miscarriage four months ago, saying I understand to someone who went through it a few days ago.

I guess what I want to say in all of this is, ladies, let’s not be afraid to tell our stories. Whether your story is miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirth, infertility, the death of a child… There is someone else out there who has been through or is going through the same thing. Did you know 1 in 4 women experience pregnancy loss? You might have the opportunity to speak truth and comfort to someone who is hurting. Or you might receive comfort and understanding from an unexpected source. Either way… your story matters.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves received from God.  (1 Corinthians 1:3-4)