"Most people know that October is breast cancer awareness month, but did you know in 1988 President Reagan designated October as National Pregnancy & Infant Death awareness month? More than 1 million pregnancies in the US end in the death of a baby (miscarriage, stillbirth, etc) and approximately 27,500 babies born alive die before their 2nd birthday, yet you rarely hear this talked about. Help break the silence, talk about & remember all these precious lives gone too soon and the families that will forever live with that hole in their heart." ~Me
I shared the above quote on both my facebook page as well as my blog facebook page (found on the sidebar to the right). It's my hope & prayer to help break the taboo subject of infant & child death (this includes miscarriage, stillbirths, etc). So many people don't want to acknowledge what we go through which make many people like myself suffer in silence. I have read & talked to so many people & we all have similar feelings in that losing a child isn't something you "get over", rather you learn to live with the grief for the rest of your life. A part of you will always feel missing and you will still have bad days & go through waves of grief for many years to come. The more we are able to talk about our children & include them, the more healing it is for us.
Tomorrow, I am participating in several events. We'll be taking part in a balloon release to remember Noah & many other babies and we will also be lighting a candle at 7pm for the International Wave of Light. Then next week I am attending a conference on the anatomy of grief. I would encourage any of you who feel led to participate to join us right where you are. We will be releasing balloons at 6pm our time (EST) and the lighting of candles takes place at 7pm your time (see pic below). In addition, for the rest of this month, I want to remember all of your precious babies. Please feel free to leave a comment here or on my facebook page or email me (see sidebar) and let me know your sweet baby's name or nickname. I would love the chance to pray for your family and towards the end of the month, I will make a post with all the precious childrens names as I know how much it means to see their name in writing for everyone to see (and this includes miscarriages as well!)
Matthew 5:4
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
very touching video clip. Jenn, what a kind gesture/offer to pray for others. I'd enjoy hearing about the conference you're attending on Sat. and how many responses you get for prayer!
ReplyDeleteMy precious one is Baby Faith (miscarried at 10 wks in 2004).
In the last week Jadon mentioned to me about really not being the youngest in our family and I could share more with him. So sweet!
Have you considered putting this on the Parents corner on the CHASE website? I know there are some Momma's there who might be ministered to by your regonition of baby loss!
~Melody