**TRIGGER WARNING: Miscarriage, Stillbirth, & Pregnancy Loss
In this episode, we explore the mental and emotional aspects of pregnancy loss with expert guest,Dr. Jessica Zucker, Ph.D. Dr. Zucker is a Los Angeles-based psychologist specializing in women’s reproductive and maternal mental health with a background in international public health. She is the creator of the #IHadAMiscarriage campaign which launched with her first NYT piece in 2014 and has since become a global movement. Here’s an overview of what you’ll hear about in this episode:
- Jessica’s personal and professional background, including her own experience of having a miscarriage at 16 weeks
- When and why Jessica started the #IHadAMiscarriage campaign
- The role that shame often plays in miscarriage and pregnancy loss, and how working to release the stigma around loss can help people heal
- Jessica’s goal to talk about EVERY aspect of life after loss, especially the areas that don’t often get discussed (i.e. sex/masturbation, friendship, pregnancy etc.)
- Some exploration into why our culture/society is so uncomfortable with miscarriage and pregnancy loss and how that often manifests itself as people saying inappropriate and/or hurtful things to the person suffering a loss
- A bit of guidance on things to say and things NOT to say to someone grieving a loss, including the importance of just being present and willing to listen
- A discussion about the cultural norm of keeping a pregnancy secret until it’s “out of the woods” at 12 weeks, and how that can lead to feeling even more isolated if a miscarriage does occur
- The difference between a stillbirth and a miscarriage, including some stats on each, and how the gestation of a pregnancy can impact grief and the healing process
- Some suggestions on how to navigate a loss for people who are going through it
- What it’s like to be pregnant after a loss, including Jessica’s personal experience with this
- The strain that pregnancy loss can place on relationships, including some insight into how these losses can impact the non-pregnant partner
- Where to begin when it comes to processing/healing from a loss
- Dr. Zucker’s list of suggested books on this topic:
- They Were Still Born: Personal Stories about Stillbirth by Janel Atlas
- Trying Again by Ann Douglas
- What I Gave to the Fire by Kim Flowers Evans
- About What Was Lost: Twenty Writers on Miscarriage, Healing, and Hope edited by Jessica Berger Grose
- Empty Arms: Coping with Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Infant Loss by Sherokee Ilse
- Unspeakable Losses by Kim Kluger-Bell
- Pregnancy After Loss by Carol Cirulli Lanham
- You Are Not Alone: Love Letters From Loss Mom to Loss Mom by Emily Long
- An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken
- Surviving Miscarriage: You Are Not Alone by Stacey McLaughlin
- Finding Hope When A Child Dies by Sukie Miller
- A Guide for Fathers: When a Baby Dies by Tim Nelson
- Waiting for Daisy by Peggy Orenstein
- Poor Your Soul by Mira Ptacin
- Vessels: A Love Story by Daniel Raeburn
- Holding Silvan: A Brief Life by Monica Wesolowska
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