When your baby dies all you want is someone who gets it. Someone who says what you’ve been thinking, feeling, struggling to find the words for. If you’ve experienced pregnancy and infant loss, you know finding that person can feel impossible.
In the real world you can’t exactly walk up to someone at the grocery store and say “Hi, did your baby die too?” (Let’s take a moment to imagine a world so comfortable with grief that we could do such a thing.) But on Instagram, you can almost do that by following these accounts dedicated to pregnancy and infant loss.
Hannah and her husband Phil are the parents to two beautiful boys, Dexy and River. On her account she details life after the stillbirth of their firstborn son, Dexy. There’s something so refreshing about the candid and honest way that Hannah approaches the topics of stillbirth and parenting after loss. Her willingness to share draws her followers in and her fierce advocacy is why they stay.
Laura is the very proud mother to three beautiful children: Findlay, Leo, and Elin. Along with sharing her poignant observations on grief, Laura uses her account to highlight various pregnancy and infant loss campaigns across the United Kingdom. If a parent was ever struggling to make sense of the parenting after loss experience, following Laura would be worth their time. Her wonderful sense of humor and ability to be vulnerable make her a relatable advocate for loss families everywhere.
Jessica Zucker is a psychologist specializing in women’s mental health issues. She is devoted to erasing the shame and stigma related to miscarriage and stillbirth and her platform is doing just that. Through a carefully curated collection of words and art, Jessica inspires others to share their truth and raise their voices in awareness. In addition, she shares her own profound experience of motherhood and miscarriage so that others may know they are never alone in the all too common experience of loss.
Lauren is a mental health specialist based in the Pacific Northwest who uses her platform to share content that challenges the status quo when it comes to grief and loss. Although her bio insists she does not have a brand, her avid followers would disagree. Lauren’s brand is honesty and community. She is lifting up others while shattering society’s outdated expectations of grief and parenthood.
You know that feeling when you read something that relates so closely to your own experience that you find yourself vigorously nodding your head and saying “Yes!” again and again? This is an everyday occurrence for the followers of @woodnailsandcotton. Among the commemorative artwork being created for families of loss are the simple cartoons that say exactly what every grieving parent is thinking.
If you’re looking for a raw, unfiltered perspective on grief–Becky’s got you covered. Mother to three beautiful sons, Becky speaks her truth about grief and makes room for others to speak theirs. Her account is both thoughtful and thought-provoking. It is the perfect place for people who aren’t afraid to get real about grief.
So many families who have experienced pregnancy and infant loss also know the heartbreak of infertility. Chiemi is a support counselor specializing in infertility trauma and her account speaks to the very real and very heartbreaking truth about infertility. However, amidst the stories of loss and disappointment lays an overwhelming feeling of hope. If there is power in sharing our stories, @missconceptioncoach is fierce.
Amanda, mama to Juniper and Coral, is the best friend in grief that you’ve been searching for. She is funny, she is colorful (literally, the woman loves the color orange!), and she is real. Her commitment to supporting other loss families is beyond compare. There is no greater friend in the loss community.
In addition to being the mother of the beautiful Chole, Melo Garcia is a grief specialist who doesn’t just want you to survive grief–she wants you to LIVE while you grieve. There has been no shortage of loss in Melo’s life, but there is also no shortage of love in the way she lives it. Through her direct and poetic posts she urges those who are grieving to own their grief and live their life.
Where do the advocates turn when they need their own advocate? In the baby loss community, they turn to Jess. Her account is dedicated to the memory of her son, Leo and within her squares you will find countless examples of how to raise awareness and rally for the cause. Working closely with advocacy groups throughout the UK, Jess is tireless in her efforts. She is also the creator of #babylosshour on Twitter and she is helping to showcase the diversity in the loss experience.
Rachel Whalen spends her days living and loving in the vibrant and charming state of Vermont. She has always wanted to be a writer but, for a long time, was lacking a story to tell. After some searching she has found her greatest inspiration from her family; especially her daughter, Dorothy, who was born silently on February 22, 2016. Experiencing Dorothy’s death her made her determined to keep Dorothy’s memory alive and to share her family’s experiences with grief, love, and all that comes with it. When Rachel is not sharing her family’s journey through the unexpected, she enjoys the little things in life alongside her husband, Mike, her daughter, Frances, and their fluffy, white cat, Edie.
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