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

October is Pregnancy, Infant and Child Loss Awareness Month.  All month long we will honor our babies gone to heaven far too soon.   Have you heard of recurrent pregnancy loss? Recurrent Pregnancy Loss is defined by two or more failed pregnancies and is considered distinct from infertility. When the cause is unknown, each pregnancy loss merits careful review to determine whether specific evaluatio...

Today's episode is about miscarriage and pregnancy loss back to back, and the mental health concerns that come from these traumatic losses. Today's guest Ijeamaka Ogbonna shares her journey to motherhood through two early micarriages and a loss at 24 weeks due to hydrops fetalis. She almost gave up on having more children after the back to back losses, but God had other plans. Ijemaka has 3 childr...

Have you heard of the term Mother Old Baby Young or MOBY for short? It is used to describe women who became moms after the age of 35, not only the initial child but any child after 35 and by any means, naturally, IVF, adoption, or in my case surrogacy.    In today's episode we hear from MOBY creator Kimberly Gowdy, an online space for older women to share their unique perspectives of older Motherh...

Motherhood is what today's guest calls a "Rites of Passage" to the best hoods on Mother Earth.  Ariane Oyere is a wife and mother of 7.  She experience the lost of her 3rd born at 9 years old and then two miscarriages after his Sunset.  Her babies she refers to as the Summer Solstice.  In this episode, Oyere takes us back to her greatest obstacles in losing her Sunsets.  She reframes child loss an...

Have you heard of the term Termination for Medical Reasons (TFMR)? Termination for Medical Reasons, or TFMR, is when a pregnancy is terminated due to a chromosomal, genetic or structural fetal abnormality, or where continuing the pregnancy would risk the health or life of the mother. Today's guest was able to conceive her first child naturally and had a healthy pregnancy and delivery. The journey...

After having suffered multiple miscarriages for two years due to Fibroids, today's guess used her faith and determination to heal from her losses and continue her journey to becoming a mother. Simbi Animashaun was determined to become a mother after her miscarriages and went onto have three children who are her rainbow babies.  In today's episode Simbi shares her struggles with pregnancy loss, bei...

What Does Having Low AMH Levels Mean? Having low AMH levels can indicate that your ovaries are producing less of the preantral follicles. This is important as the fewer the number of follicles there are means there are less that can be stimulated for assisted contraception. Today's guest suffered from endometriosis for 21 years before being properly diagnosed. Sandra Elidor also found out she had...

Have you heard of the term Oligohydramnios? Low amniotic fluid (oligohydramnios) is a condition in which the amniotic fluid measures lower than expected for a baby's gestational age. Today's guest was preparing to conceive and had a myomectomy to remove her fibroids.  Christina Danyo learned she was expecting after her fibroid surgery.  During her 20 week anatomy scan she learned that her baby gir...

Today's guest knows what it feels to be down and depressed after trauma.  This lead her to making cotton candy and learned to detach herself from other people's pain, but also carry their spirits with me to rediscover joy by bringing it to others.  Jackie Morin is the founder of Wonderpuff a small cotton candy business based in Durham, North Carolina.  She and her husband began to expand their fam...

Today's guest is a lifestyle blogger behind byDeze.com.  Deze began her journey to motherhood after getting married and lost that pregnancy to miscarriage.  The next pregnancy she had an ectopic pregnancy and in total experienced another 6 losses totaling of 8 pregnancy losses with no live births.  She was diagnosed with endometriosis, endured the removal of her right fallopian tube, as well as th...

Can you imagine going through an entire pregnancy and losing your baby so close to birth? Today's guest experienced that and more.  LaQuasha Jarvis had her first baby at 20 and 5 months later was pregnant with her second child.  At 37 weeks the unthinkable happened when she lost her baby so close to delivery. In this episode LaQuasha shares how she fights daily through her loss, how she went on to...

Today's guest has been on a journey of grief.  She experienced the loss of her first pregnancy with a miscarriage, the death of her eldest daughter, and in her final pregnancy another miscarriage.  D. Anaya shares in this episode how she has been on this journey of grief and tells her adventures exploring her grief as an artist, grief guide, and loss doula through adventures of grief girl. This ep...

Have experienced any shame, guilt, or self blame after loss? Today's guest has experienced it and more. Tanerra Willis is a certified RN and CPR instructor by trade and was diagnosed with PCOS and had blocked fallopian tubes.  She ended up seeing a fertility specialist who recommended she undergo IVF to grow her family.  Tanerra was able to have her baby via IVF.  She experienced guilt, embarrassm...

After a long journey with infertility, today's guest shares her early struggles to conceive and carry a child to term, her journey in search of alternative ways to have a family, and racial and societal pressures of parenthood and love.   Kimberly Gowdy experienced the loss of multiple pregnancies, and was in an unstable marriage peppered with spousal abuse and addiction.  In today's episode she t...

Have you heard of having a double uterus or double cervix?  The term is Uterine didelphys is  a rare condition that happens when you grow two uteruses instead of one . This happens when you are a developing baby. You are born with it. ‌ While developing as babies, girls typically grow a uterus from two channels called the Mullerian ducts. Today's guest was born with a didelphys uterus after 3 lapa...

Have you heard of an Ectopic Pregnancy? An ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilized egg implants and grows outside the main cavity of the uterus. An ectopic pregnancy most often occurs in a fallopian tube, which carries eggs from the ovaries to the uterus. This type of ectopic pregnancy is called a tubal pregnancy. Today's guest experienced an ectopic pregnancy that was discovered during her fir...

Congenital heart disease is a general term for a range of birth defects that affect the normal way the heart works. The term "congenital" means the condition is present from birth.  Today's guest was diagnosed with Endometriosis and after many years of fertility treatments including IVF her first child Jasper died in her arms 30 hours after he was born from congenital heart disease.  Coping with t...

Not all fertility treatments end in success.  Some end in undetermined infertility and unsuccessful IUI and IVF cycles. Today's guest experienced unexplained infertility and underwent fertility treatments.  After going through an IUI and 2 IVF cycles that were unsuccessful, she and her husband decided to take a break from fertility treatments and decided to adopt.  The adoption process was an imme...

Have you heard of the term micropreemie? A micropreemie is a baby that is born before the 26th week of pregnancy or weighs less than 28 ounces. Today's guest is a mother of two an angel baby and rainbow baby both who were micropreemies born before 26 weeks.  Diane Olusado combatted infertility with professional help for 4 years.  After 7 failed IUIs and 1 failed IVF cycle she had a successful tran...

There is nothing we can do" the 6 words us @sistersinloss dreads to hear. How many of us have heard "There is nothing we can do" after a doctor's appointment or emergency room visit? Today's guest experienced a miscarriage at 7 weeks and was told "there is nothing we can do." Elijah's passing was traumatic.  Jessica Jackson could not comprehend that statement.  She saw Elijah in a dream and writin...

Today's episode is a solo episode where our founder Erica M. Freeman shares our newest Grief Support Group - Black Moms Loss Returning.  This is expanding our currently offering in our partnership with Postpartum Support International.   Black Moms in Loss will be held weekly on Thursday's at 8pm EST Black Moms in Loss Returning will be held bi-weekly on Tuesday's at 8:30pm EST. Join our Weekly Gr...

Today's episode is a two part episode where we discuss adoption and second trimester loss.  Today's guest Dr. Tatiana Height wanted to become a mother through private adoption as she was single at the time.  During this time she faced alot of judgement from people about trying to adopt instead of carrying a biological child.  If you haven't listened to part 1 please go back to Episode 383 to liste...

Have you considered adoption as a way to grow your family? Today's episode is a two part episode where we discuss adoption and second trimester loss.  Today's guest Dr. Tatiana Height wanted to become a mother through private adoption as she was single at the time.  During this time she faced alot of judgement from people about trying to adopt instead of carrying a biological child.  In this episo...

We are easing into 2025 with our first Solo episode of the year with Erica Michelle. We are discussing staying informed through this new climate but not consumed. I share my favorite podcasts, books, and other media that I'm using to keep the peace and rest in this season.  We are being frutiful in 2025 and not easily swayed by misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation from this administr...

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...