Surviving a Pregnancy Loss

A Pregnancy Loss Survival Guide

No one told me how to take care of myself after my pregnancy losses. In fact, after my third miscarriage, I asked my OB-GYN, “where do I go from here?” She shrugged and said, “there’s nothing more I can do for you. I’ll see you for your next annual visit.”

But, there was so much more she could have done for me. She could have addressed countless things, both physically and emotionally, that would have supported my journey. When I’m able to access some empathy for her, I wonder if she assumed I had already received so much support since this was my third pregnancy loss.

If that were true, she was wrong.

After four miscarriages, not one doctor asked if I needed a therapist. No one mentioned support groups. They didn’t speak about alternative medical options, such as working with a reproductive endocrinologist. No one shared podcasts, blogs, or books that might help my journey.

Everything I found that helped me was done independently. I did this while already steeped in grief, shame, and sadness, struggling at times to get out of bed or eat a healthy meal.

When we are struggling, we have limited capacity to find the things that might help us. It is overwhelming. In creating this pregnancy loss survival guide, I hope this can ease the burden of finding support, even in the smallest way.

These were the top 10 things that helped me through my pregnancy losses: