October is Pregnancy and Infancy Loss Awareness Month, when people take time to remember those who have lost a child during pregnancy or infancy. 

There is comfort in knowing they are not the only ones going through the experience. 

Pregnancy is a time of expectation and celebration.

When that gets taken away, it causes trauma and distress. Often the parents feel they can never have a happy life and a family. 

When they get pregnant again, they have this consistent thought that the baby will not go to full term.  Sometimes miscarriage happens more than once.

The life with purpose

Gina Mitch was pregnant with her first child and had a first trimester miscarriage. This was a very difficult time for her and her husband. 

They decided to set aside their dreams of a family and focus on themselves and their marriage. 

When Gina got pregnant again, she was at high risk for another miscarriage.

Gina then had her daughter Jasmine. She calls Jasmine her “Rainbow Baby” because that is the term for a baby subsequent to a miscarriage. She grew happy and healthy. It was a sense of relief for them. 

Gina is now pregnant with her third child. She still has that worried feeling, but they are more hopeful now. 

She really supports this month and she posts about her son (Jordan) all the time. 

She wants all the mothers to not be afraid to talk about their babies they lost. She says “Let these mothers reach out and help you because this is an open space.”

Gina wants all mothers to understand that everything happens for a reason and that everyone needs to be kind to those who have lost a baby.

She believes that there needs to be more done for this month because the babies aren’t remembered the way they need to be. She wants this to be able to be a open conversation between mothers. Gina said “Most people have no idea that October 15th even represents anything, let’s change that!”

Gina wants everyone to be able to be more aware of the situations that mothers are going through. She wants every family that wants a child to understand that yes this can happen but they sill be remembered the way they need.

She explained, “Anyone can remember a child on October 15th, even if you didn’t lose one.”

She also wants everyone to understand what some of the reasons are for miscarriages. She doesn’t want anyone to think its their fault. Gina wants all mothers to take away from what she is saying and understand that you are never alone, you are welcome for any type of situation and you have a safe place with these mothers that are reaching out to you.

Gina said, ” No one should think it is their fault. Everyone’s body is different.”

Information 

Miscarriages is when a baby dies in the womb before 20 weeks old. Some women have miscarriages before they even know they are pregnant. 

We don’t know all of the causes of miscarriages but we think the main cause is through chromosomes and genes. 

It can take a few weeks or a month or more for a woman’s body to recover from a miscarriage. It may take longer to recover emotionally.

Most women who miscarry go on to have a healthy pregnancy later.

Background 

Some of the main causes for a miscarriage can be problems with chromosomes and with the cervix, uterus, or infection. 

There are several biological reasons for miscarriage.

When part of a chromosome moves to another chromosome, this causes a small number of repeat miscarriages. 

A woman can have an embryo implant in the uterus that doesn’t develop into a baby, also an embryo can stop developing and die. 

Some womens uterus can have a band of muscle or tissue that divides the uterus in two sections. Your doctor might consider surgery to fix that before trying to get pregnant. 

You also can have scar tissue in the uterus that can damage lining of the uterus, also you can have growths and scars in the lining that can limit the space for the baby and limit blood supply.  

Some women uterus can open too early and cause labor during the second trimester and can cause early labor or miscarriage.

Infections like STIs can cause miscarriages as well. Early testing and treatment for the infection can help protect the mother and the baby.  Having a certain type of infection like a STI or STD can cause not only just one miscarriage but repeat miscarriages. 

History

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan declared October as a month to recognize the unique grief or bereaved parents in effort to demonstrate support to the many families who have suffered such a tragic loss. 

Promoting awareness of pregnancy and infant loss not only increases the likelihood that grieving families will receive understanding and support, but also results in improved education and prevention efforts which may ultimately reduce the incidence of these tragedies. 

The #NeverBeStill campaign seeks to break the silence surrounding stillbirth and other pregnancy/infant losses by not only educating the public but also empowering expectant mothers to have a healthy pregnancy. 

Events

Every year on October 15th, light a candle at 7 pm local time and sit there in silence to honor all those babies that were gone too soon. You keep your candle lit for at least one hour to create a continuous “Wave of light” across all time zones. 

Usually 8 out of 10 miscarriages happen within the first 3 months. In fact 10%-20% pregnancies end in a miscarriage. This is a high number and not a good thing. When women look at this number they think to themselves, “There is no way I can do this, it’s too risky.” 

Yes there is a risk for miscarriages but there is always a risk for anything you do, just this is one of those things that are going to affect others a lot more than other things. 

Being able to help other mothers and help them get the understanding that they aren’t alone and it wasn’t their fault is something we all need to find the courage to do.

The colors for this month is pink and blue, these colors represent loss during or after pregancy, stillbirth, miscarriage, neontal death, SIDS. 

So always remember that October 9th to the 15th is time to recognize those who have lost a child and make sure they know that others support them.

By supporting this and adding more to this month to support it could go a long way. This could help grieving mothers that think there is no way back to happiness find happiness again which is what we all want to do.

Support

There are several support groups for women who have had a miscarriage or lost a child in infancy.

Just having the feeling of being able to talk to someone that understands gives moms a sense of relief.

Gina has found many other mothers and now friends that have gone through this and they really connect because they both had this very bad tragedy in their life that can’t be replaced. 

She said, “Finding the right support when you’re ready is the best idea.”