Where is the support for mothers grieving miscarriage?
Where is the support for mothers grieving miscarriage?
Today, miscarriage seems a taboo topic in American society. Most women, and certainly most men, know almost nothing about either the experience itself or the resources available, unless they have undergone it themselves.
That was certainly true for my husband and me.
When we found out we were pregnant with our first child, about 15 years ago, we were over the moon. We took photos with our pregnancy test, started thinking of baby names, planned the nursery, and added items to our baby registry. That was until around 13 weeks, when at a routine appointment, my doctor told me my hormone levels were so low I needed a progesterone supplement to sustain the pregnancy. Just a week later, she informed me that I was miscarrying my child.
I had specifically chosen a Catholic hospital because they do not perform abortions, though my doctor still let me know I could go next door to another hospital if I wanted one. As Christians, my husband and I were determined that God would have the final word. We went home and prayed for God to save our child, but ultimately for His perfect will.
At my next appointment, I was told there was no heartbeat and was pressured to get a “dilation and curettage” procedure to remove a baby from the my womb. I declined, knowing errors occur in medicine all the time. My baby could still be alive.
My doctor gave me two weeks to wait at home, so I endured, planning to check back in on possible life-threatening infection.
Throughout that process,........
