Hope Blooms: Surviving Miscarriage Together

Send a text 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. Support the show Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog Facebook Instagram: @earlypregnancylossassociation Twitter: @miscarriagecare Email: Miscarriagecare...

Send a text 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 w...

Send a text 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...

Send a text 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 Hurt Miscarriage Resource Packet  Support the show Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog Facebook Instagram: @earlypregnancylossassociatio...

Send a text 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...

Send a text 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. Support the show Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog Facebook Instagram: @earlypregnancylossassociation Twitter: @miscarriagecare Email: Miscarriagecare@gmail.com P.O. Box 179 Hillsdale...

Send a text 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....

Send a text 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.  Support the show Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog Facebook Insta...

Send a text 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...

Send a text 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 physi...

Send a text 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...

Send a text Starting with one bereavement basket in 2007 Forget-Me-Not Baskets has served Northeast Ohio and beyond for over 15 years. Since then they have given away thousands of baskets to families experiencing miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant loss.  Emily and Maria are joined by Sara Ringle to talk about the changing culture of pregnancy loss, moms serving moms, and ways we can reach people...

Send a text Only a few weeks into her first pregnancy, Haley Naida was surprised to discover she was experiencing a Missed Miscarriage. The following days, weeks, months, and years brought grief and confusion as she and her husband muddled through the spiritual, emotional, and physical suffering. But they also experienced great hope and healing through the gift of friendship. Haley's wisdom a...

Send a text This is our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY EPISODE  and we want to honor this achievement with you. Be sure to listen for opportunities to give us your feedback and receive some special EPLA swag! On June 7, 2022 we launched Hope Blooms: Surviving Miscarriage Together with our first episode : The Changing Culture of Pregnancy Loss: An Interview with Nancy Kingma, Part 1.   Over the last year we...

Send a text Kathy Petersen joins Maria and Emily to talk about her prespective as a Labor and Delivery Nurse and a loss mom herself.  Support the show Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog Facebook Instagram: @earlypregnancylossassociation Twitter: @miscarriagecare Email: Miscarriagecare@gmail.com P.O. Box 179 Hillsdale, MI 49242 To request a miscarriage care kit please email miscarriagecare@gmail.co...

Send a text Well here it comes again: Mother's Day is on the horizon. And did you know there is a Bereaved Mother's Day too? Do we need two holidays? Does it help? Does it hurt? What should you do on Mother's Day? How should you feel?  We don't have the answers to all of these questions, but we are here to say:  Dear miscarriage mamas,  You are a real mother. You carried life i...

Send a text Grieving a miscarriage is complicated. The life lost was real. The grief is real. But there feels like there is so little to hold onto. Maybe an ultrasound, a pregnancy test, some early baby presents. But there are no pictures, no birthdays, no conversations, or stories. How do we remember little ones we never met living? Emily and Maria talk about what it means to remember and give so...

Send a text Emily had an idea: She wanted to provide relief for medical bills incurred due to miscarriage. This was really the seed that planted what would become EPLA, but we still don't do it.  In this episode Maria and Emily discuss the early days of EPLA, the vision of medical bill relief, and our hopes for what is on the horizon!  Support the show Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog Faceb...

Send a text "I didn't want the claim that she was happy to mean I wasn't allowed to be sad."  Jordan Wales shares his story of losing Theodora and how he cared for his wife Kathryn and worked through his grief in the coming days, weeks, months, and years.  Support the show Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog Facebook Instagram: @earlypregnancylossassociation Twitter: @miscarriag...

Send a text Maria and Emily explain the two miscarriage care kits offered by EPLA. This episode is a great opportunity to understand what is in each kit and why.  For more information about miscarriage care kits visit our website: https://www.miscarriagecare.com/blog/epla-service-miscarriage-care-kits To request a kit for yourself or a loved one email us at miscarriagecare@gmail.com.  Please indic...

Send a text Poetry lends itself to a deep expression of feelings and is often able of capturing the most painful parts of the human experience. This week we are joined by Dr. Elizabeth Fredericks, Assistant Professor of English at Hillsdale College to look at three Irish poems on early pregnancy loss. We hope that these guided readings through these poems will touch and soothe your heart as only p...

Send a text Working through grief after pregnancy loss can be really challenging. Ben and Heidi pick up where we left off in our previous episode discussing their own path through grief and working through that grief within their marriage.  Support the show Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog Facebook Instagram: @earlypregnancylossassociation Twitter: @miscarriagecare Email: Miscarriagecare@gmail.c...

Send a text Ben and Heidi Kafferlin join Maria and Emily to share their miscarriage story.  From a traumatic trip to the hospital to the emotional aftermath of loss, the Kafferlin's open up about working through miscarriage as a young couple in early marriage.  Support the show Find us any time: Hope Blooms Blog Facebook Instagram: @earlypregnancylossassociation Twitter: @miscarriagecare Emai...

Send a text Robin Bertram joins us to talk about her lack of experience with early pregnancy loss and how that led her to be one of EPLA's most active volunteers.  We often talk about the prevalence of early pregnancy loss, but that doesn't mean everyone has had first hand experience. This lack of personal experience doesn't mean you can't help - learning about loss and availab...

Send a text 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'...