Ten years ago our co-host, Emily, discovered that her first child, affectionately known as Baby, no longer had a heartbeat. It was the end of April and she and her husband were looking forward to a new house, new job, and new baby, only to be told Baby had died. While Emily has told her story before this episode specifically remembers that first miscarriage and her short time with Baby. After 10 years her grief has changed, but it never went away.Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog FacebookInstagram: @earlypregnancylossassociationTwitter: @miscarriagecareEmail: Miscarriagecare@gmail.com P.O. Box 179 Hillsdale, MI 49242To request a miscarriage care kit please email miscarriagecare@gmail.com with your information. Care kits are distributed at no cost throughout the United States.

Emily and Steph talk about a world where no one suffers miscarriage alone. What does that look like? How do we help women and families? What can we do to make this world a reality? Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog FacebookInstagram: @earlypregnancylossassociationTwitter: @miscarriagecareEmail: Miscarriagecare@gmail.com P.O. Box 179 Hillsdale, MI 49242To request a miscarriage care kit please email miscarriagecare@gmail.com with your information. Care kits are distributed at no cost throughout the United States.

After suffering and recovering from miscarriage many women and families experience an urge to help others. In this episode Emily and Steph talk about ways to help your community, ways to help EPLA, and ways to meet the needs of other women and families suffering miscarriage around you.  Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog FacebookInstagram: @earlypregnancylossassociationTwitter: @miscarriagecareEmail: Miscarriagecare@gmail.com P.O. Box 179 Hillsdale, MI 49242To request a miscarriage care kit please email miscarriagecare@gmail.com with your information. Care kits are distributed at no cost throughout the United States.

Grieving is hard and when our friends are grieving we often want to fix it. But does that really work? So if we can't fix grief, how do we help women as they walk through miscarriage? We personally loved this little video about grief: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2zLCCRT-nEFind us any time: Hope Blooms Blog FacebookInstagram: @earlypregnancylossassociationTwitter: @miscarriagecareEmail: Miscarriagecare@gmail.com P.O. Box 179 Hillsdale, MI 49242To request a miscarriage care kit please email miscarriagecare@gmail.com with your information. Care kits are distributed at no cost throughout the United States.

The holiday season is over and 2024 is now on a roll. Christmas trees have been cleaned up and the family rooms reset to their "normal" arrangement. But what if life doesn't feel normal yet? What if you aren't ready for it to feel normal. While we often look to a new year with hope and anticipation, this can be particularly difficult for women and families who suffered miscarriage in 2023. Leaving 2023 behind does not have to mean leaving your little one behind. You do not have to "get over" your baby or start fresh. Instead we look for ways to move forward, honor our grief, and remember our children. In this week's podcast Emily and Steph revisit an old blog post written by Emily to talk about how they moved forward, but never moved on. Check out the original post here. Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog FacebookInstagram: @earlypregnancylossassociationTwitter: @miscarriagecareEmail: Miscarriagecare@gmail.com P.O. Box 179 Hillsdale, MI 49242To request a miscarriage care kit please email miscarriagecare@gmail.com with your information. Care kits are distributed at no cost throughout the United States.

The emotional, spiritual, and physical burden of miscarriage are painful enough. Then, often as women are starting to feel a little better the bills start coming. Medical expenses can start to add up quickly. Depending on the her physical needs a bereaved mother might face bills for ultrasounds, emergency room visits, surgery, ambulance rides, doctors appointments, labs, tests, and even prescriptions. In this episode Steph and Emily talk about their own experiences and the financial burden of loss. Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog FacebookInstagram: @earlypregnancylossassociationTwitter: @miscarriagecareEmail: Miscarriagecare@gmail.com P.O. Box 179 Hillsdale, MI 49242To request a miscarriage care kit please email miscarriagecare@gmail.com with your information. Care kits are distributed at no cost throughout the United States.

Steph Gordon joins us to share her story of loss. From the moments she started bleeding, to taking misoprostal, and the days and weeks afterwards, the memories remain clear for Steph even though her loss happened over a decade ago. Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog FacebookInstagram: @earlypregnancylossassociationTwitter: @miscarriagecareEmail: Miscarriagecare@gmail.com P.O. Box 179 Hillsdale, MI 49242To request a miscarriage care kit please email miscarriagecare@gmail.com with your information. Care kits are distributed at no cost throughout the United States.

Grief can sneak up on us during what we might have always known as the happiest time of the year. Emily and Maria remember their first Christmases after loss. Emily felt deep sadness missing her baby, Maria suffered missing her baby bump. Whatever it is something is missing and something is not right. If you are grieving this year we encourage you to give that grief space, share your feelings, and work through your loss. Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog FacebookInstagram: @earlypregnancylossassociationTwitter: @miscarriagecareEmail: Miscarriagecare@gmail.com P.O. Box 179 Hillsdale, MI 49242To request a miscarriage care kit please email miscarriagecare@gmail.com with your information. Care kits are distributed at no cost throughout the United States.

Anne Bradstreet weathered the harsh New England Winters and the hard life of starting a society in the new world. America's first poet, Bradstreet chronicles the joy and pain of her life experience. While she never lost any of her own children  - she suffered the grief of infant death losing several of her grandchildren. Her poetry points to the pain and grief of losing a little one all too soon. In this episode Emily and Maria look at two of her poems. Nearly 400 years later her grief connects mothers across centuries. Mourning Poems: https://wams.nyhistory.org/early-encounters/english-colonies/anne-bradstreet-mourning-poetry/More about Bradstreet: https://poetryarchive.org/poet/anne-bradstreet/Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog FacebookInstagram: @earlypregnancylossassociationTwitter: @miscarriagecareEmail: Miscarriagecare@gmail.com P.O. Box 179 Hillsdale, MI 49242To request a miscarriage care kit please email miscarriagecare@gmail.com with your information. Care kits are distributed at no cost throughout the United States.

Emily and Maria take time to give thanks for all of the blessings we have at the Early Pregnancy Loss Association this year. We are especially thankful for our listeners and we wish you a gentle holiday season full of healing and hope.Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog FacebookInstagram: @earlypregnancylossassociationTwitter: @miscarriagecareEmail: Miscarriagecare@gmail.com P.O. Box 179 Hillsdale, MI 49242To request a miscarriage care kit please email miscarriagecare@gmail.com with your information. Care kits are distributed at no cost throughout the United States.

Women suffering early pregnancy loss are often unable to bury their babies, especially in cemeteries. This can be for many reasons sometimes they are unable to collect the body, the body was needed for testing, or they do not have the resources available bury their little one. Many women aren't even given the information necessary to move forward with how to proceed even if they wanted a burial. But this problem tends to lead to a bigger question. If we want to participate in grief and mourning rituals as we grieve our miscarried children, what should those rituals look like? How do we acknowledge our grief and honor our little ones rightly. In this episode Emily is joined by Holly Russell to talk about the history of grief and mourning rituals in America. With a background as a museum curator and librarian Holly offers insight to how we have dealt with death in America. We specifically look at the heavily ritualistic Victorians to see what we can learn from them. Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog FacebookInstagram: @earlypregnancylossassociationTwitter: @miscarriagecareEmail: Miscarriagecare@gmail.com P.O. Box 179 Hillsdale, MI 49242To request a miscarriage care kit please email miscarriagecare@gmail.com with your information. Care kits are distributed at no cost throughout the United States.

For Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month we are resharing the special story of Kathryn Wales and her sweet daughter Theodora. This episode originally ran September 20, 2022. -------Kathryn joins us to share her story of the death of her dear Theodora at 16 weeks gestation. While miscarriages most commonly occur during the first trimester of pregnancy, any pregnancy loss before 20 weeks is considered a miscarriage. Kathryn's story details the experience and grief of a second trimester miscarriage. Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog FacebookInstagram: @earlypregnancylossassociationTwitter: @miscarriagecareEmail: Miscarriagecare@gmail.com P.O. Box 179 Hillsdale, MI 49242To request a miscarriage care kit please email miscarriagecare@gmail.com with your information. Care kits are distributed at no cost throughout the United States.

For a long time myths and misconceptions have haunted women suffering miscarriage. In this episode Emily and Maria tackle some these frustrating lies that pollute the miscarriage conversation.  People Have Misconceptions About Miscarriage, And That Can HurtMiscarriage Resource Packet Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog FacebookInstagram: @earlypregnancylossassociationTwitter: @miscarriagecareEmail: Miscarriagecare@gmail.com P.O. Box 179 Hillsdale, MI 49242To request a miscarriage care kit please email miscarriagecare@gmail.com with your information. Care kits are distributed at no cost throughout the United States.

For Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month we encourage you to think about gentleness as you care for your heart and remember your little one. Wherever you are in your grief journey, this episode serves as a good reminder to care for yourself where you are. We are republishing this episode from December 20, 2022 to help us through Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month and into the holidays. ------We are quick to prescribe gentleness in times of grief, but do we even know what that means? Has the command to be 'gentle with yourself' become just one more thing to do in a time of helplessness? How do we understand gentleness in a way that allows for healing and restoration. Emily and Maria start the conversation digging in to what 'being gentle with yourself' might look like, especially as we prepare for the Holidays. Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog FacebookInstagram: @earlypregnancylossassociationTwitter: @miscarriagecareEmail: Miscarriagecare@gmail.com P.O. Box 179 Hillsdale, MI 49242To request a miscarriage care kit please email miscarriagecare@gmail.com with your information. Care kits are distributed at no cost throughout the United States.

Emily and Maria talk abou how Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness (PAIL) Month has grown over the years. They also offer ways to remember our children and care for our hearts and bodies during this time.Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog FacebookInstagram: @earlypregnancylossassociationTwitter: @miscarriagecareEmail: Miscarriagecare@gmail.com P.O. Box 179 Hillsdale, MI 49242To request a miscarriage care kit please email miscarriagecare@gmail.com with your information. Care kits are distributed at no cost throughout the United States.

Emily miscarried 9 years ago. Her mother, Linda, thought her daughter's experience and care might be different than her own loss nearly 30 years earlier. But it wasn't. Emily was stuck with the same hushed culture and confusion surrounding miscarriage. There was a lack of educational resources and limited community support not much different than her own loss decades before. Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog FacebookInstagram: @earlypregnancylossassociationTwitter: @miscarriagecareEmail: Miscarriagecare@gmail.com P.O. Box 179 Hillsdale, MI 49242To request a miscarriage care kit please email miscarriagecare@gmail.com with your information. Care kits are distributed at no cost throughout the United States.

Working through the trauma of miscarriage can take its toll on a relationship. Each person might experience grief differently, have different needs, or even different expectations. Emily and Maria talk about some of these challenges and look for ways to love, care, and support each other following early pregnancy loss. Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog FacebookInstagram: @earlypregnancylossassociationTwitter: @miscarriagecareEmail: Miscarriagecare@gmail.com P.O. Box 179 Hillsdale, MI 49242To request a miscarriage care kit please email miscarriagecare@gmail.com with your information. Care kits are distributed at no cost throughout the United States.

The frontlines of miscarriage care are diverse. While medical professionals are an integral part of this, they are not the only ones faced with serving women and families after loss. Due to the nature of miscarriage and prenatal care, some women aren't even in the care of a doctor yet at the time of their loss. This leaves other caregivers with the challenge of providing emotional, physical, and spiritual support. Some women turn to their church community, but are these churches ready to help? Pastor Everett Henes joins Emily and Maria to talk about some ways the he and the Hillsdale Orthodox Presbyterian Church has responded to needs in his congregation. Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog FacebookInstagram: @earlypregnancylossassociationTwitter: @miscarriagecareEmail: Miscarriagecare@gmail.com P.O. Box 179 Hillsdale, MI 49242To request a miscarriage care kit please email miscarriagecare@gmail.com with your information. Care kits are distributed at no cost throughout the United States.

The U.K. Government recently reviewed an independent report concerning was to improve care following early pregnancy loss. As a couple of Americans looking on, Emily and Maria take this episode to respond to the recommendations. Maybe there really is a better way?So many of our stories talk about painful interactions with medical professionals, being under prepared to manage the physical experience, and difficultly processing the emotional and physical toll. These recommendations tackle these problems head on dignifying the woman, the fetus, and the whole family. Everyone would do well to take the advice laid out in this review: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-response-to-the-independent-pregnancy-loss-review/government-response-to-the-independent-pregnancy-loss-review-care-and-support-when-baby-loss-occurs-before-24-weeks-gestationFind us any time: Hope Blooms Blog FacebookInstagram: @earlypregnancylossassociationTwitter: @miscarriagecareEmail: Miscarriagecare@gmail.com P.O. Box 179 Hillsdale, MI 49242To request a miscarriage care kit please email miscarriagecare@gmail.com with your information. Care kits are distributed at no cost throughout the United States.

Early pregnancy loss brings grief to the whole family. Often parents, in the midst of their own grief, are also left to guide their living children through the loss of a sibling.  Later on families might face the difficulty of sharing their previous losses with children born after their miscarriage. Either way, talking about life and death with children might feel overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be. In this episode Maria and Emily share resources that helped them navigate these conversations with their own children. For more information visit:After Miscarriage: How to Talk to Your Children About Pregnancy LossTalking to Children About Baby LossFind us any time: Hope Blooms Blog FacebookInstagram: @earlypregnancylossassociationTwitter: @miscarriagecareEmail: Miscarriagecare@gmail.com P.O. Box 179 Hillsdale, MI 49242To request a miscarriage care kit please email miscarriagecare@gmail.com with your information. Care kits are distributed at no cost throughout the United States.