Dealing With A Lost Pregnancy As A Couple

There’s no greater loss than the loss of a child, and while there’s nothing you can do to change what’s happened, it’s better to understand that it’s as big a loss for your partner, as it is for you. We recommend you read on to know more...

- Aditi Sheoran Chhajta

From the day a couple discovers they are pregnant, life can seem like a miracle of sorts. For a mother, her entire world changes from that moment on. A pregnancy doesn’t just reside in her womb but penetrates her heart and soul deeply. As a couple embraces this exciting phase of their lives, nothing can be more devastating than discovering that it has hit an abrupt end. Such an event can be an enormous challenge to deal with; something no one is ever prepared for.

Though this loss is irreparable for the couple, there are some steps that can be taken to ensure a positive turnaround and a way forward. Read on to uncover what experts have to say.

Open up to others

Get family and peer support by reaching out and opening up to members of your social circle who would be receptive, supportive and can lend an empathetic ear. Share the grief with your partner to try and overcome the loss.

Dr Leena N Shreedhar, head of obstetrician-gynaecologist at Manipal Hospital, Dwarka, New Delhi says, “As an obstetrician and gynaecologist practicing for the last 30 years, an event like a woman losing her pregnancy can be very painful and tragic. A woman’s world comes crashing down when she is informed that the baby in her womb is no more alive and that surgical cleaning of the womb needs to be done. It falls upon the gynaecologist to break the news to her and her family and it is tough doing that! I have had to be a gynecologist, psychologist and counsellor, all rolled into one, to treat these patients. Women also tend to blame themselves when this happens, even when they are not guilty in any way. To add to it, our society can also be insensitive at times and I have seen many women slipping into depression as a result of poor family and peer support.”