October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month.

One in 4 Women will lose a baby during pregnancy, delivery, or infancy. One in 160 pregnancies will end in stillbirth. Pregnancy and infant loss has long been stigmatized and shrouded in shame. Yet, thousands of mothers and parents suffer silently, feeling forsaken and alone in their grief, and in their mourning. There have been very dear friends and family of my own who have gone through this, and I am certain that there is no pain paralleled than to that of the loss of a child.

A brave mother shared her recent experience of pregnancy loss at 37 weeks earlier last week, and her description of her pain was so poignant that I needed to share here:

“Grief, we are learning, is love with no place to go. It is all the love and life we want to give to her, but cannot.”

@mindfully.mom

In October, and always, we honor all babies amongst the stars. We honor all those who have experienced the deep pain of womb and child loss.

Your heart and your body have endured the unspeakable.

You are here, but your child is not. It is like a tragic corporal dissonance — as though your heart has left your body, but you continue to breathe, to pump blood, to exist.

Remember, during the hardest days, that you are courageous, brave, resilient, loved, and worthy of love. Always.

Resources

Star Legacy Foundation

Postpartum Grief Support Groups

A Brave Lament

Our Sacred Women

If you are a mother or parent who has experienced pregnancy or infant loss and would like to commemorate and honor your child and your experience through photography, I would be honored to capture your story.

Please contact me to book a Session, I’m here. I see you. You’re not alone.

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