Have any of you women experienced a stillbirth?

(And guys, if you come in and try to be smart asses about this, you will be blocked. This is serious.)

A dear friend of mine has just gone through that a few days ago, and I she has a few questions, that of course, I couldn't answer myself.

How did you get through it?

How long was your physical recovery?

Were you able to have children thereafter, and if so were the births difficult? (of course, her biggest concern/fear)

And from myself....How can I be there for her without being too intrusive?

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ThePerfectUsername · 70-79, M

Not a stillbirth, but one of my grand daughters had two miscarriages before she eventually bore a son. And judging from that experience my best advice would be to quietly encourage your friend to be honest and open about it, not to let her bury her emotions deep inside and try to lock the feelings away as some might be tempted to do. To take every word she says literally when she tells you how horrible she feels, and to mourn the loss of child as if it were your own while all the time allowing her to keep the child alive in her heart so she know it will never be forgotten.

It's a lot to expect of you and I don't know what other support options are available but if I was her main support that'd what I'd try to do.

PS. There isn't a day goes by when my grand daughter doesn't think about the two she lost, so I'm not even sure "recovery" is an appropriate goal. To my mind it's more case of how much extra strength will she need to be able to carry that load.

silentwriter180 · 51-55, F

@ThePerfectUsername Thank you.