Pregnancy Loss Resources

Pregnancy loss comes in different forms and hurts just as much at any stage.  I am sending out lots of love to every family that has gone through the heartbreak of having and losing, no matter how long your baby was a part of your life.  Here are some online and local pregnancy loss resources for support groups, for pregnancy and infant loss, grief and trauma.

Faith-Based Pregnancy Loss and Still-Birth Grief Resources for Muslim Families

These resources were gathered from the Instagram account of blogger @eslimah, Eileen Lahi, who went through the process of losing her baby at 37 weeks pregnancy, when she went into labor and discovered that her daughter had passed away before birth.  Eileen shared the following amazing resources that helped her grieve her unborn daughter’s loss.

• Instagram Highlights Folder– Look through her highlights folder on Grief and Loss for her and her husband’s stillbirth story.
• Children of Jannah– Eileen shared one of the resources that helped her through her difficult situation.  This is a website called Children of Jannah with lots of resources for families going through the grief of losing an unborn or newborn child.  They offer a book and resources that friends or family can gift their loved ones during this time of intense grieving.
• Quotes that Soothe the Heart– Eileen shares a Google Drive folder with faith-based grief quotes that were put together for her that came from the Qur’an and faith-based sources.  They helped pull her through during those moments of grief that came and went in waves.  See here for the link to this Google Drive.
• YouTube Video Experience on Loss– Eileen was able to share her experience and feelings on her pregnancy and loss on a YouTube video here.

Other Resources for Help with Grieving Pregnancy Loss and  Still-Births

Still: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Motherhood

This book is recommended by Eileen, @eslimah, as one that helped her through her journey losing her unborn child at 37 weeks pregnancy.

Dr. Tara May

I was introduced to Dr. Tara May’s work through my training with Doula Trainings International.  A Seattle, WA-based psychologist that specializes in trauma and grief recovery, Dr. Tara May has specialized in and developed online resources to help parents and families/friends of parents who are experiencing the grief and trauma of losing a child during any stage of pregnancy and infancy.  Her free, 4-week online resource for parents who are grieving the loss of their baby is titled Pathways to Hope After Baby Loss.  She also shares a resource for friends and family of parents who have lost their unborn or born child- ways to help support them during their time of grief.  You can find both of these programs here.  Her list of resources is another great resource to look through for support, including support for Dads, miscarriage loss and pregnancy and infant loss.

Postpartum VA

In the local Northern Virginia and DC Metro Area, the site Postpartum VA is a great resource for everything postpartum.  They have a section dedicated to grief and loss here and a great round-up of online and local resources, support groups, etc.  A resource for the larger community is Postpartum Support International, which brings together a great list of resources for grief and loss.  You can find them here.

Ending a Wanted Pregnancy

One of the hardest things a parent can ever go through is having to end a pregnancy, especially when you were looking forward to it and praying and waiting for it.  We send out lots of love to these parents and hold them in our hearts.  This site provides grief support.

Creating Memories for Pregnancy Loss

• Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep- Provides the ‘gift of remembrance photos to parents experiencing the death of a baby.’  Find out more here.
• Molly Bears- was created by a mother who lost her unborn child at 34 weeks.  She found some solace in a creating for herself a 3-lb weighted teddy bear that would remind her of her little one.  She has gone on to create ‘weighted teddy bears for families coping with any type of infant loss.’ Find out more here.
• Empty Cradle, Broken Heart: Surviving the Death of Your Baby- This book can be found on Amazon and is a resource that Dr. Tara May highly recommended.

(The featured image is a quote from  Megan Devine, author of It’s Ok that You’re Not Ok.  Check out her social media accounts @refugeingrief for plenty of great tips and emotionally intelligent grief support.)

Praying for all who have gone through this and holding you in my thoughts and prayers.  <3 <3 <3