As awareness grows around pregnancy and infant loss, more compassionate resources are becoming available for women and families who’ve experienced this heartbreak. Even as cultural sensitivities improve, though, the grief and loss are real, in addition to the unintentional wounds Catholic couples experience. Well-meaning but uninformed people of faith may not know how to comfort those who are suffering, and the secular world often does not recognize the inherent human dignity of children who die before or shortly after birth.
Archdiocesan Support
To counter these experiences, the Office of Natural Family Planning strives to be a connection point for women and their families with multiple resources surrounding pregnancy and infant loss. Our dedicated team exists not only to help couples avoid or achieve pregnancy, but to be a supportive resource for family life. Through the extensive network of resources available through the Archdiocese of St. Louis, families can receive compassionate medical care, spiritual support, burial resources, and much more.
Clergy Support
Because the loss of a baby at any stage is truly the loss of a family member, couples rely on members of the clergy during this experience in the same ways they would during any other time of deep grief. Our staff is available at any time as a resource for members of the clergy who would like additional resources to serve these families. We also offer online resources, formation for seminarians, and recently hosted a training in partnership with Springs in the Desert. A priest who participated shared how it was immediately helpful to his vocation, saying, “The workshop was super helpful! I’ve already given the resources to two different people in the last week that were in need. I’ve always known that these topics were common, but I didn’t really feel confident in dealing with them. I feel like I have an idea of how to approach these issues now, so much more than before.”
Parish Support
When a parish community supports a couple who has experienced pregnancy or infant loss, they recognize the dignity of the child, which provides such comfort to grieving parents. Some parishes, including Immaculate Conception in Dardenne Prairie, St. Joseph in Imperial, and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, have even utilized the gifts and experiences of the faithful to start groups dedicated to pregnancy and infant loss. Mary Lee Barron from St. Margaret Mary Alacoque parish in south St. Louis County felt compelled to draw on her own experience of miscarriage as well as the need she saw in her work as a nurse practitioner. In partnership with their parish pro-life committee, Mary Lee and her fellow parishioners established a program called Echoes of Love. They meet monthly and offer peer support whether the loss was recent or many years prior. Mary Lee passionately shares that both men and women are welcome to participate. While many people associate pregnancy and infant loss with the physical side effects for the woman who carried the child, both husbands and wives share the loss.
How to Support Those Experiencing a Miscarriage
All of these resources together offer tangible support for families while also recognizing the reality of the grief experienced from pregnancy and infant loss. This is a major life event that affects families physically, emotionally, and spiritually. No one should ever feel pushed aside or diminished because there was a very real loss of human life. All of these beautiful souls remain precious members of the Kingdom of God. Let us continue to remember them and call upon them as special patron saints to pray for us!