When someone you know experiences a miscarriage, it’s hard to know what to say. That’s why clinical psychologist Jessica Zucker created a new line of empathy cards to open up the conversation about pregnancy loss.
Zucker is a Los Angeles-based psychologist who specializes in women’s reproductive and maternal mental health. While she is considered an expert in reproductive trauma, the mom admitted she was unable to relate to her patients’ feelings of isolation after loss until she experienced it herself.
Zucker told Yahoo Health: “I was sitting there with my patients, talking them through miscarriage postpartum, late-term abortions, all the while, I had yet to experience reproductive trauma.”
Then in 2012, when Zucker was pregnant with her second child, she miscarried at 16 weeks. “I found myself in a psychological haze of despair that is still in the process of lifting from my psyche,” the mom said. “One day obviously pregnant, the next I was a deflated, empty vessel.”
As a result, Zucker was inspired to create a line of sympathy cards aimed at those who have suffered a pregnancy loss at any stage. As a doctor and a mother, she realized that receiving a simple card was better than avoiding the topic completely with family and friends.
Steering away from the “everything happens for a reason” sentiment, Zucker’s honest empathy cards reveal the only thing parents suffering a miscarriage need to hear: I’m here.
Take a look at the cards below.
Honest Miscarriage Cards
Pregnancy loss is more common than people think. According to BabyCenter.com, about 10 to 20 per cent of known pregnancies end in miscarriage. With her empathy cards, Zucker hopes to “normalize this enormous statistic that really isn’t going to go away anytime soon.”
“This isn't a disease that we're looking to cure,” she says. “This is a normative part of trying to create life. But we live in a culture where people just don't know what to say.”