Emotional Aftermath of Miscarriage

Having a miscarriage is a physically and emotionally difficult experience under any circumstance. But if you've been struggling with infertility or have had one or more miscarriages in the past, the loss can feel especially painful. Though time and comfort are often the best healers, it helps sometimes to understand the grief and mourning process that can accompany a miscarriage, and to know what you can do to start coping with your loss. Here's how to begin.

Many women form an attachment to their baby early on in the pregnancy, particularly if they've been trying to conceive for some time. So after a miscarriage, they're likely to go through a period of mourning and possibly experience the same stages of grief that can accompany the death of a loved one. The stages are:

1. Denial (a refusal to believe what has happened).

2. Anger (blaming yourself or others for the loss).

3. Bargaining (striking a deal with yourself or God to have things return to the way they were).

4. Depression (feeling listless, tired, despondent, guilty, punished, and/or as if there's no pleasure or joy in life).

5. Acceptance (realizing that life has to go on, and regaining your energy and goals for the future).