Life After Pregnancy Loss: Tips to Help You Navigate a Painful Time

If you have lost a pregnancy, you’re not alone. The latest research shows that possibly more than half of all successful fertilizations end in miscarriage — but the majority of these happen before you’d even have known you were pregnant.

More likely, if you’ve suffered a known pregnancy loss, you’re one of the 10-20% of women who experience a loss after finding out they were pregnant.

At Women’s Health Care Center of Houston, with two locations in Houston, Texas, our team of women’s health and reproduction specialists can help you find solutions for infertility and help you through the grief of pregnancy loss while you decide whether or not you want to try and conceive again.

Life after pregnancy loss

It’s common to feel extreme grief, depression, and even guilt after a miscarriage. One study revealed that nearly 50% of women who experience miscarriages are at increased risk of both postnatal depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 

Here are some tips for how to navigate life after a pregnancy loss:

1. Know it’s not your fault

It can be easy to take all of the burden of a pregnancy loss on yourself, asking what you could have done or not done to prevent the miscarriage. Most pregnancy losses are caused by genetic abnormalities that the fetus would not have been able to survive, so don’t blame yourself.

2. Find a support group

For far too long miscarriage was considered a taboo subject, and women wouldn’t talk about their experience to even their family or closest friends. If you feel like your inner circle won’t react favorably to listening to you speak about and process your loss, finding a group of women who have gone through the same thing can help. 

3. Don’t feel like you have to ‘try again’ right away

Unfortunately, many women feel they have to prove themselves by immediately pursuing another pregnancy. It could be healthier for you — both physically and mentally — to take care of yourself for a while before deciding that you’re ready to conceive again.

4. Talk to a reproductive specialist

Sometimes even if there ends up being no clear answer as to the “why” of your pregnancy loss, speaking to a fertility specialist can help. You can figure out how to go about conceiving again, if you really want to, and whether or not it would be better to carry a child yourself or use a surrogate. 

If you’ve experienced a pregnancy loss and have questions or concerns, call Women's Health Care Center of Houston at 713-365-2900 or visit our contact page for more information.