10/02/2025
Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month
Pregnancy loss affects 1 in 4 women. It’s estimated that 40% of all conceptions result in loss. There are approximately 4.4 million confirmed pregnancies in the U.S. every year. 900,000 to 1 million of those end in pregnancy loss. More than 500,000 pregnancies each year end in miscarriage (loss occurring during the first 20 weeks). Approximately 26,000 end in stillbirth (loss after 20 weeks). Approximately 19,000 result in infant death during the first month. Approximately 39,000 result in infant death during the first year. What happens to these mothers? They are grieving among us every day. Even if you've never personally suffered the loss of a baby, you likely know a mother who has. Each of these women are someone in your life. Your wife, daughter, granddaughter, sister, aunt, cousin, niece, or best friend. Pregnancy & Infant Loss makes no exceptions. These women have endured the unimaginable, they lost a child. Pregnancy and infant loss affects far too many women for it to not be discussed openly and for there to not be support in our community. Mother's leave the hospital empty handed and shattered after a loss. Once their minds clear from the fog of grief, they are left to survive in a society that doesn't always acknowledge pregnancy and infant loss. The women that come to our support group are broken into pieces in the midst of the nightmare that is now their new reality. They haven't gathered the words to tell their stories yet, it is all so new and painful. These women want to talk about their babies. Just because their baby did not survive doesn't make them any less of a mother. It is detrimental that their feelings to be validated. Our Carriage Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support Group of NWI allows these mothers to openly share their losses with women who truly understand their pain. There is finally validation when you hear stories similar to your own. The women who attend our meetings go from a shattered broken soul with no direction to a new empowered and stronger being. There is a sense of peace knowing that you can help others through your own personal experience. We are not just a support group. We have a bond and unity that no one can define. There is an unspoken love for each other knowing the pain that we all share. We are Loss Sisters. We are the faces of Our Carriage.
Pictures courtesy of Purple Peony Photography
