Research Opportunity

I received an email from Lisa Rosenzweig who is doing research for her dissertation on women's experiences with miscarriage. She asked me to put the link to her research survey on my blog with the hopes of having my readers help her learn more about our experiences with miscarriage. If you've suffered a miscarriage, please take the time to complete the survey. It doesn't take much time, and her results may help in how women who have suffered miscarriages are treated by medical professionals in the future!!

Below you'll find a summary of what she is doing. The link to her survey is https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=VCaiTA9Wo6w60W8HA0QxSA_3d_3d

Thanks!!

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Everyone has a unique experience with miscarriage and many find help and support through websites like this one. Unfortunately, little is known about women's experiences of support and how this may affect responses to miscarriage, and so I invite you to participate in my dissertation research study examining women’s experiences following a miscarriage. Although there is no direct benefit to you, survey results may help healthcare providers better understand and meet the needs of women following miscarriage. This online survey takes approximately 15-20 minutes and is open to women who have miscarried a wanted pregnancy in the previous 6 months who are 18 years of age or older, living in the United States, and involved in a relationship with a significant other. Participants are eligible for a raffle for a $50 American Express gift certificate. For more information, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Lisa Rosenzweig
Teachers College
lsr2106@columbia.edu

Today is October 15th

To most people the 15th of October is just another day. But to someone who has lost a baby October 15th is a day set aside by the government as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

For those of you who have suffered through a pregnancy or infant loss I just wanted all of you to know that I am remembering you and your precious little ones today. I said a special prayer of comfort for you today.

And for those of you who have never had to experience the deepest form of loss there is, I pray that you never will. Please remember the women in your life who have lost their precious babies. If you want to know more about how you can remember your friends in a special way, visit http://www.october15th.com/.

Sisterhood of Sadness

I saw this on FF, and wanted to post it here. Get your hankies!!!

Sisterhood of Sadness
Author Unknown

"I was once a member of the Pregnancy Club, my membership card consisting of two pink lines on a stick. I was eager to pay my dues, just like all the other members. Morning sickness, stretch marks, cravings -- I welcomed them all.

But they never came. And before I knew it, my membership was revoked. No real reason -- at least none I could discern -- other than bad timing, perhaps. Or, at least, that's what everyone's been telling me. That and "God's plan."

Miscarriage is a terrible word. As if one has dropped something, or carried something incorrectly. Similar to "mistake" or "misunderstanding." How I longed for it to be either of those things when I learned my baby was gone. Surely, it was a mistake, I prayed. If they would just look again, they would learn it was all a simple misunderstanding.

But the ultrasound screen showed otherwise.

1 out of every 5 pregnancies ends in miscarriage, say the books. That statistic terrified me when I was pregnant. So many lost babies, I thought. How can I keep mine from being one of them? But now that mine is one of them, that 1 out of 5 seems awfully small.

Or, at least, it did. Until soft-speaking female voices started whispering to me in my grief, "It happened to me, too." Their eyes told me the stories of the pain that we shared, the pain that only a woman who has carried a child - and lost it - could know. For some, it was fresh pain. For others, it was dulled by healthy babies since born.

A sisterhood of sadness.

It's a silent group, this new club of which I have recently become a reluctant member. Our membership cards are the scars we will always carry on our hearts. Our dues are paid in blood and tears. It is a painful initiation, and one never ceases membership. Because one never forgets.

I am joining, not because I want to, but because I wasn't given the choice. But at least I know I'm not alone. At least I know there are hundreds of thousands of women with me, however silent and invisible, quietly holding my hand."

Today Show "Why Can't I Stay Pregnant" Segment

Miscarriages aren't something that needs to be brushed over like it's no big deal. As Mer.edith Vi.era said, "It is a death in the family."

http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=18f9641f-d84e-4b5e-b5e4-1cb326594be8&f=00&fg=

I so identified with Christine. She was 32 when she first fell pregnant, and was blissfully and naively happy. And at the first ultrasound they found out the pregnancy wasn't viable. Her story sounds so much like my own. I, too just want to be pregnant by the time I'm 35.

Christine has been blessed with two beautiful children, and hopefully one day my story will end as happily as hers.