10 Things to Stop Thinking and Doing After a Miscarriage

Any woman who has experienced a miscarriage—especially when the pregnancy was wanted—knows that losing a baby at any stage of pregnancy can be very difficult to come back from. There are likely to be a range of thoughts and feelings that you will experience.

Emotionally, you may be all over the map after a pregnancy loss. Mentally, you’re probably feeling distracted and unable to handle simple tasks the way you used to. Physically, you may be exhausted and you may have trouble sleeping. You may also still be dealing with the physical aches and pains.

Fortunately, there are many things you can do to ease up on yourself after a miscarriage. Trying to avoid these negative thoughts and activities may help you cope and get through your pregnancy loss so you're truly ready to try again (if you choose to) at some point in the future.

Feeling Alone

When you’ve lost a baby, you probably feel like the only person you know who’s going through such a tragedy. You don’t have to feel that way. The truth is that miscarriage is all too common. Stillbirth also happens far more often than people realize.

The trouble is, we don’t really talk about it. Whether you prefer the safety and anonymity of the Internet or a more intimate and personal setting, there’s a support group for you so you don't have to feel all alone in this.

Blaming Yourself

It’s hard not to feel like you did something wrong when you lose a pregnancy. Guilt is a natural reaction when something happens to someone important to us, and who could be more important to you than your own baby?

Finding out the cause of your loss may help, but even if the cause is unknown, you can learn to let go of self-blame. There are ways to help you get through your feelings of guilt after a miscarriage.

Wondering If You're Normal

Every person’s journey through grief is unique. Some people need to be more public with their experiences, by talking with friends and family, holding a funeral or memorial service, or displaying memories of their babies. Others tend to be private, confiding in only a few trusted people and keeping their mementos safely stored.

Listening to Negativity

Because pregnancy loss isn’t something we tend to talk about, most people don’t know what to say when you do decide to tell them. As a result, they can say some pretty hurtful things without meaning to.

Remember, their hearts are probably in the right place when they tell you, "You can always have another baby" or "This probably happened because you did __________." But also remember, just because someone says it, doesn’t make it true.

Ignoring Your Emotional Needs

Feeling numb may be one of your first reactions to a pregnancy loss. It might seem easier to just stay that way—to not think about what’s happened and to avoid your feelings through distraction.

It’s OK to take a break from your grief once in a while. After all, grief is exhausting. But eventually, you’ll have to confront it.

Remind yourself that even a very private person can take the time to cry in private. Give in to it once in a while. Likewise, don’t forget that it’s OK to feel joy again. The good moments help us through the bad ones.

Worrying What Others Think

If you want to have a funeral for your baby, no matter how far along you were when you miscarried, that's OK. If you want to sign your holiday cards with your baby’s name, that's fine, too. If you want to talk about it on Facebook, that's your choice.

It’s also fine if you don’t feel like you need to talk about your loss with anyone. Not everyone in your life will be comfortable with whatever mourning activities you do or do not take part in.

Rushing Yourself

There are no deadlines for grief. Although it should get easier to cope as time passes, the path through grief is neither straight nor clear. You can only get through each day as it comes.

Some days will be better than others, and sometimes you’ll feel like everything is starting to be "normal" again, only to be blindsided by a reminder of your baby. When this happens, you may feel like you’re back at square one.

Keeping It a Secret

For most women, it’s hard to hide when you’re going through a rough time like a miscarriage. You might get away with it with your co-workers, but the people in your life who really know you are likely to sense that something is wrong.

Even if you don’t want to share every detail, you may find it helpful to give a brief description of what you’re going through. Something like "I had a miscarriage and I don’t really want to talk about it, but I hope you’ll understand if I’m a little off right now," can help your friends and family know how to act around you. You might find that you have a few unexpected sources of support.

Ignoring Your Physical Needs

After a miscarriage, it can be easy to become hyper-focused on your emotions and forget about your physical recovery. Immediately after a pregnancy loss, you’ll have lots of physical changes to deal with as your body transitions back to a non-pregnant state. But even after the physical symptoms like vaginal bleeding have stopped, your body has needs.

Avoiding Professional Help

You’ve given yourself time and patience. You’ve had good days, but plenty more bad ones. On the bad days, it’s hard to even to get out of bed. You don’t seem to have the energy for anything, even things you used to enjoy. You don’t want to eat, you can’t sleep and you find yourself avoiding other people. Maybe you’ve even thought about hurting yourself or ending your life.

If this sounds like you, it’s time to get help. This is important because grief can turn into serious depression. Call your doctor to talk. If you are considering hurting yourself or someone else, call the police or get to a hospital emergency room as soon as you can.