Healing Your Grieving Heart After Stillbirth

Beloved grief educator Dr. Alan Wolfelt compassionately explores the common feelings of shock, anger, guilt, and sadness that accompany a stillborn child, offering suggestions for expressing feelings, remembering the child, and healing as a family. Ideas to help each unique person—mother, father, grandparent, sibling, friend—are included, as are thoughts from families who experienced a stillbirth. This new addition to Dr. Wolfelt’s popular series is a healing companion to families when they need it most.

The miscarriage of a hoped-for child is a shattering loss and those who had already begun to feel attached to the baby will naturally grieve—particularly the mother and father but also siblings this baby would have had, extended family, and friends. This compassionate guide contains 100 practical ideas to help those affected by the tragedy of miscarriage, from teaching the principles of grief and mourning to practical, action-oriented tips for coping with the natural difficulties of a loss. Fostering communication between partners, explaining the loss to others, and reconciling anger and guilt are some of the additional topics covered in this compassionate book for those grieving in the aftermath of a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy.

This heartfelt manual is an indispensable and easily referenced resource for grieving grandparents, offering them a way forward after the death of a grandchild. Whether they were close to their grandchild and keenly feeling his or her absence, or even if they were not close to the child and are mourning the loss of a relationship they'll never have, this book offers grandparents compassionate comfort and practical ideas for their journey through grief, addressing as well the unique pain of watching their children mourn the loss of their child. The ideas offered in the book clarify the basic principles of grief and mourning and offer immediate suggestions for things grandparents can do to embrace their grief, honor and remember their grandchild, and begin to heal.

The stories in this book are not easily told, but for the many thousands of families each year who endure the silent tragedy of a stillbirth, they offer a welcome voice of solidarity and guidance. Janel Atlas, familiar with the pain of losing a child, has selected here the firsthand accounts of not only mothers, but also fathers, and grandparents, all of whom have reached out to offer readers the comfort of knowing they are not alone on this painful path. Through these stories, the writers found validation of their babies' lives and have now shared the same gift with others, inspiring readers to write their own as well as showing them how to do so.

Advice and comfort for surviving the death of your stillborn baby.

Intended for nurses, doctors, midwives, social workers, chaplains, and hospital support staff, this guide gives caring and practical advice for helping families grieve properly after losing a child at birth. As the special needs of families experiencing perinatal loss are intense and require more than just the bereavement standards in most hospitals, this handbook offers tips and suggestions for opening up communication between caregivers and families, creating a compassionate bedside environment, and helping with mourning rituals. Encouraging continual grief support, these specific companioning strategies can help ease the pain of this most sensitive situation.

Reassurance for parents who struggle with anger, guilt, and despair after a miscarriage, stillbirth, infant death.

Unable to find answers when her only child, Victoria, was stillborn, Lorraine Ash came to write the book she longed for. It is a road map from pain and chaos to understanding and acceptance. Drawing on great thinkers, personal loves, and the wisdom in everyday events, Ash explains how she made it through this difficult emotional terrain after her daughter's stillbirth and how her experiences led to richer ways of seeing, being, and loving in the world.