Stunning photographs capture mothers commemorating pregnancy loss

October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, and many groups are finding ways to bring awareness to mothers’ experiences of pregnancy loss and stillbirth. The group #IHadAMiscarriage, started by Dr. Jessica Zucker in 2014 as a social media campaign, has since grown into an extensive online support community.

This year, Zucker worked with artist Jessica Larkitz and photographer Rebecca Coursey-Rugh to capture different ways of commemorating loss. #IHadAMiscarriage focuses on building “a culture that replaces silence with storytelling.” The latest photography campaign features women sharing their stories of loss through poetry written on their bodies.

READ: Miscarriage in the age of abortion: Women aren’t mourning ‘a jumble of cells’

In a video about the project, Dr. Zucker says finding closure is complex, explaining the need for “ways to create a memorialization, to create ritual, or to create rites” following the loss of a child at any stage. Zucker, who experienced a second-trimester miscarriage, says this gives women the means to “feel like we are honoring the women that we were previous to the loss, the women we are now, and the babies that we’ve lost.”

I Had a Miscarriage Rites Rituals & Representation (Short Version)

The project’s poet and artist, Jessica Lakritz, told Babble, “After talking intimately with all these women about their personal experiences, I see how complex the emotions that go along with it are. It isn’t just sadness. It’s anger, guilt, isolation, fear, jealousy, shame, loneliness. It’s wondering if there is something wrong with your body.” For her, the project took an unexpectedly personal turn when her mother revealed that before Lakritz’s birth, she miscarried a child. Without this project, Lakritz’s mother may not have found an opportunity to tell this story.

READ: Video: Woman grieves and celebrates memory of baby lost to miscarriage

Miscarriage is common, affecting up to one in four pregnancies, and many mothers and grieving families want a way to heal. In one of her videos, Dr. Zucker says, “With the statistics being what they are, there is no reason whatsoever women anywhere in the world should feel ashamed or alone or isolated following pregnancy or infant loss.”

If you have experienced a miscarriage, you are not alone. As Esther Stanard of Miscarriage Matters observed, “A miscarriage, regardless of its stage, equates to the death of a child. Until our society understands the true totality of this heartbreak, our mission continues.” For more resources, visit MyMiscarriageMatters.org.

Editor’s Note 10/16/18: If you have experienced the loss of a child during pregnancy and would like to share your story with us, please email editor@liveaction.org.