Sisters in Loss Podcast: Miscarriage, Pregnancy Loss, & Infertility Stories

In the medical world miscarriages are called spontaneous abortions, and in this community we have to learn how to extend grace to individuals who electively terminate their pregnancies no matter their choice. Join us this month as we explore abortion stories and how healing, grief, and shame can keep all of us bound. After being diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) today's guest was s...

Imagine at your first doctors appointment being told your baby had fluid around their heart? After being advised to wait until the baby had grown to conduct a full anatomy screening, today's guest was faced with devastating news. Taysha Turman found out at 16 weeks that her baby was diagnosed with hypo-plastic left heart syndrome and a diaphragmatic hernia. The doctors advised her to terminate her...

After being diagnosed at 18 years old with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) today's guest was told she was unable to have children. At 31, Chappy Morgan lost a significant amount of weight and was surprised when she found out she was expecting. During an ultrasound she found out her son was sick and was going to suffer from heart problems specifically congenital heart disease. Chappy shares in t...

Imagine being told that your baby had no fetal heartbeat one month from their due date? Today's guest Tomeka Isaac takes us back to that very moment where she and her husband were faced with the news no parent ever wants to hear that her son Jace was not going to make it. Then they were dealt another blow that she was diagnosed with H.E.L.L.P Syndrome (Hemolysis Elevated Liver Enzymes Low Platelet...

Have you ever suffered from painful periods? Today's guest Bria Burrell has always had painful periods, and in 2015 she found out there was an cyst on her left ovarian. Her OB/GYN monitored the cyst for a couple of months, until it started to grow. In order to prevent the cyst from rupturing the OB/GYN performed a laparoscopic procedure in January 2016. . The cyst dominated the left part of Bria's...

Losing your baby and losing your womb and ability to have more children is what today's guest had to face. Alexus Harris Oluyole lost her son Maverick at 21 weeks due to pregnancy complications and had to have a partial hysterectomy to save her life. Alexus Harris Oluyole was devastated as she had to navigate the grief of losing her son and losing her ability to bear more children. God was her anc...

After experiencing three losses today's guest felt ashamed and guilty of her grief as she experienced secondary infertility with already having two children. Jessica Hortman had a spontaneous miscarriage in 2015 at 6 weeks, a miscarriage due to a submucosal fibroid at 10 weeks in 2016, two years years of not getting pregnant, and then finding out she had a fibroid in 50 percent of my uterus. After...

What does Life After Baby Loss look like? Feel like? Appear to be for everyone like today's guest. Yonela Resi is the mother of two angels. One baby she loss at 16 weeks and the other a stillbirth at 38 weeks. In this episode she takes us on that journey of becoming a mother at 24 in South Africa, the black community there and how baby loss is not talked about, and how she started the Lakhanya Fou...

After two miscarriages today's guest experienced preterm labor at 26 weeks. Carrita Flie would not have chosen this journey to motherhood. After her miscarriages, one in the first trimester and one in the second, she was labeled high risk and had to see a specialist weekly when she became pregnant with her rainbow baby. At 21 weeks she was told her cervix was shortened and received a cerclage. Eve...

Have you felt you may never experience motherhood? Today's guest felt exactly that way after experiencing two miscarriages. Jasmine Moore experienced her first miscarriage in 2016 at 11 weeks cause was a blighted ovum. In 2018 she experienced her second miscarriage at 19 weeks due to natural causes. Jasmine takes us back on her journey to motherhood in this episode and shares the pain of not ever...

Being raised in a Christian faith based home, and respecting the unspoken rule of not having children out of wedlock, today's guest began her journey to motherhood at 38 years old. Crystal Justice found out she was pregnant on Aug 9, 2018. On Sept 7, 2018 she was told that the pregnancy was no longer viable. Despite my HCG levels and Progesterone levels being normal her D&C was scheduled on Sept 1...

90% of African Americans women have fibroids and today's guest shares her miscarriage story and rainbow pregnancy with fibroids. Shawn Owens found out she was expecting as she was preparing for an outpatient procedure. She and her husband were shocked by the news due to her diagnosis with uterine fibroids and her being 38 years old. Shawn wanted to wait to share the news with her family around Fat...

International Bereaved Mother's Day is this upcoming Sunday, May 5, 2024.  This day is for us to show our love for our babies gone to heaven far too soon. Sunday, May 12, 2024 in the US we celebrate Mother's Day. Mother's Day can be very challenging, difficult emotionally, and with social distancing and quarantine can and will be very lonely for many Sisters in Loss. Today's episode is my love let...

April is Sisters in Loss Infertility Awareness Month!  All month long we will be highlighting infertility stories and journey's.   Black Maternal Health week was April 11-17 and Infertility Awareness Week is April 18-24.  This week we are talking about reproductive health. Did you know that some midwives specialize in high risk births and pregnancy after loss or infertility?  Today's guest is a Ce...

Black birth stories have joy and they also do have trauma.  In today's episode we dive into the creator of the Black Birth Story blog Shayla Brown's own birth story and journey to becoming a mom.  Shayla has been pregnant over 10 times with a few miscarriages and one heterotopic pregnancy that resulted in her losing a fraternal twin ectopically and being currently pregnant with the other twin.  Sh...

Parenting after loss is a journey. It's important to make space for conflicting emotions . Don't put pressure on yourself to feel that having another baby will resolve or put an end to the pain of a previous loss. It's okay to feel happiness and sadness at the same time. Life may be moving on, but this doesn't mean you have to let go of a previous loss. In today's episode Helena Morais shares her...

Parenting after loss is a journey. It's important to make space for conflicting emotions . Don't put pressure on yourself to feel that having another baby will resolve or put an end to the pain of a previous loss. It's okay to feel happiness and sadness at the same time. Life may be moving on, but this doesn't mean you have to let go of a previous loss. In today's episode we have Nkemka Egbudo bac...

Below are some coping tips that worked for me on how to Handle the Anxiety, Fear and Stress that comes with Pregnancy After Loss. Focus on one day at a time. Easier said than done, right?  But I always keep my favorite verse with me that  "All things work together for the good of those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 If God has called you to be a mother especially for you to...

Congratulations!  You are now pregnant and are ready to embark on another journey of bringing forth life.  It can be a very difficult journey of pregnancy if you are not ready to face fear, anxiety, and any other preconceived feelings of pregnancy after loss. Most women who become pregnant after experiencing miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death find themselves hit by a flood of different emoti...

Are you ready to try to conceive?  Today's episode is a solo episode by Founder Erica Michelle on Trying Again and Making the Decision to try to conceive. Making the decision to try again is not an easy one.  This decision may trigger many different emotions and bring on anxiety, fear, guilt, inadequacy, hopelessness, and a sense of failure.  In this series I plan to equip you with the questions t...

2024 is here and we are kicking off the year with a solo episode.  Our founder, Erica Michelle, shares about easing into 2024, goals for Sisters in Loss in 2024, and surviving and thriving in 2024. Become a  Sisters in Loss Birth Bereavement, and Postpartum Doula Here Living Water Doula Services Book Recommendations and Links Below You can shop my  Amazon Store  for the Book Recommendations You ca...

Pregnancy loss and infertility can be so hard on a marriage. It can either tear the couple apart or bring them closer together. In fact it is said that almost 80% of couples who experience a miscarriage or infertility end up in divorce. In this month of love we will be featuring 4 couples showing by prayer, faith in God, and a strong commitment to stay together their marriages endured the hard tim...

Pregnancy loss and infertility can be so hard on a marriage. It can either tear the couple apart or bring them closer together. In fact it is said that almost 80% of couples who experience a miscarriage or infertility end up in divorce. In this month of love we will be featuring 4 couples showing by prayer, faith in God, and a strong commitment to stay together their marriages endured the hard tim...

What is PPROM? Preterm premature rupture of the membranes (PPROM) is a pregnancy complication. In this condition, the sac (amniotic membrane) surrounding your baby breaks (ruptures) before week 37 of pregnancy. Once the sac breaks, you have an increased risk for infection. Today's guest experienced 4 losses, 9 IUIs, and 5 IVF transfers.  Her most recent loss was due to PPROM and incompetent cervix...

Can marriage survive the loss of a child?  Losing a child is the hardest thing a couple can go through. In fact 80 percent of marriages end in divorce after the loss of a child.  For the month of December we are sharing the stories of 4 couples and how their marriages not only survived the loss of a child, but continued to thrive.     In today's episode we have the Garrets.  Sheldon and Xenia met...