Skip to main content

How to Care for a Friend Who’s Had a Miscarriage

Share This article

In the last month, three of my younger friends have had miscarriages. I wish my experience was unique.

While statistics on miscarriages vary—because as many as 75 percent of fertilized eggs, including those that fail to implant, miscarry—15-20 percent of confirmed pregnancies end in miscarriage. And although the biology of conception hasn't changed since I was bearing my own now-grown children, the explosion of home pregnancy tests in the 1990s does mean that more women confirm more pregnancies sooner. As a result, more women today are facing the reality of miscarriage and more are learning to navigate life after that loss.

Graciously, there is less secrecy and shame today than there once was around miscarriage: women post pregnancy loss announcements on social media, hospitals offer bereavement services that can include burial, and some women choose to name the children they've lost.

Yet despite a degree of increased transparency, many of us feel tongue-tied around those who've recently experienced a miscarriage.

In my work with women who've lost children to premature deaths, detailed in He Knows Your Name: How One Abandoned Baby Inspired Me to Say Yes to God, I've discovered a few ways to support women navigating the loss of miscarriage.

1. Be Present

Don't let your discomfort keep you from showing up to support a friend or family member who has endured a miscarriage. Text her. Send her a card. Clean her house. Babysit her older children. Communicate that you know and you care.

2. Listen

Because a woman who's experienced a miscarriage may feel isolated and alone, it's important to listen well. Whether you call her or show up at her office to take her to lunch, create opportunities for her to share her heart. Refrain from offering your opinions and focus on listening well.

3. Notice Her Needs

In the wake of a miscarriage, a woman is healing both physically and emotionally. Physically, she may be cramping or bleeding. Emotionally, she may need a listening ear or a space to grieve. She might even need a ride to the doctor. Pay attention to her needs and show up to help.

4. Make Room for Naming

Some women choose to name the child they've lost. While that's a very personal choice, I've seen it be redemptive for many. When one young friend miscarried, she chose a name for her baby. And while she decided not to share it publicly, holding it in her heart was part of her grieving process.

5. Remember

Whether a woman goes on to have a subsequent child or not, she never forgets the baby she lost. Milestones such as the anticipated due date or the births of others' babies around the same time may ignite feelings of loss. Be aware that those markers may sting.

Most women who've lost a baby to miscarriage want what we all want: to be seen, heard, known, and loved.

The most important thing you can do is to show up. Whether she is single or married, whether her pregnancy was planned or not, whether she has other kids or not, let her know that her experience matters to you.

Share This article

About The Author

Linda
Znachko

Linda Znachko is the founder of He Knows Your Name, a ministry that gives children a name in life, and dignity and honor in death. She also partners with mothers who do not want their children’s legacies to be the circumstances of their death. Her aim is to assist the grieving to find healing and purpose in knowing every life is sacred to God. A sought-after speaker in churches, conferences and retreats, Znachko has been involved with discipling women for more than 25 years. Regularly involved with local and regional media, Znachko works to bring attention to the problem of abandoned, unwanted