The last few weeks have been difficult for me, as I have been working with a family who lost a child. The situation was different than any other I've worked with. I know that there are many parents who have experienced this type of loss, but this was the first for me, and I wasn't really sure how to help. After months of hope and anticipation, these parents had a stillborn baby.
When we met, I allowed them time to express their feelings and emotions, but they were still trying to make sense of what happened. It was completely out of order. The end of a pregnancy was supposed to bring life, and here it has brought death. That is not the way it is supposed to be. I couldn't imagine what they were going through. My son died when he was twenty-one. I held him as a baby. I watched him grow. These would only be dreams of what could have been for these parents.
I'm looking for help this week. What are some things that I could do to help these parents? If you have experienced a stillborn birth or a miscarriage, what are some ways you were comforted or helped by others? Do you have any suggestions on how I can help this couple? I eventually would like to like to have specific peer support groups for Love Never Ends. Having a group for prenatal loss is one of the first I would like to start. If you could provide some insight to my questions, or have an interest in helping other parents learn to live with their grief, please reply to this post or send me a message.