BABY LOSS AND AMBIGUOUS LOSS
There are links between baby loss and ambiguous loss and you may feel in limbo, confusion, uncertainty or a loss of hopes and dreams along with the loss of your baby. You may relate to these circumstances :
All of these situations relate to ambiguous loss and are devastating and traumatic. If you are struggling with your mental health, counselling can help you understand your loss and grief. Being aware of ambiguous loss may help you come to terms with your feelings.
- You had a miscarriage.
- You learnt at the scan that your baby has an abnormality or small chance of survival, and you needed to make the difficult decision of whether to terminate the pregnancy.
- You terminated a pregnancy to find out you would have had a healthy baby.
- You had a baby not knowing how long it would live and experienced anticipatory grief.
- Your baby died during pregnancy and was under 24 weeks so you couldn’t register the birth or death.
- You had twins but only one baby survived or was born healthy.
- You had a limited amount of time to have a baby due to your age, and through loss, your opportunity for a child has diminished.
- Your IVF was unsuccessful.
- You experienced baby loss and are too traumatised to try for another baby.
- You had a loss after struggling to conceive.
- You may feel stigma of talking about baby loss and experience disenfranchised grief.
- Your baby was in ICU for some time with much ambiguity.
- Your baby died and the reasons are unclear or unknown.
- You are unable to have a baby.
All of these situations relate to ambiguous loss and are devastating and traumatic. If you are struggling with your mental health, counselling can help you understand your loss and grief. Being aware of ambiguous loss may help you come to terms with your feelings.
