Customer Reviews

Empty Arms: Coping After Miscarriage, Stillbirth and Infant Death

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a good book if you want something simple. It is in the question, answer format and fairly short. You can easily find what you are looking for without having to search through the other stuff you don't want to think about right now. It would have been extremely helpful right when my son died. It would be good for the hospitals to give out. It didn't have as many stories of other couples (they do help you to feel less alone) as I would have liked, though. There is some advice on how to go on and answers to questions I would not have even thought of, though so I do recommend it. It shouldn't be the only book you buy on loss, but if you can afford more than one, get this one.

This book is written as a personal advice journal. There are very few things that are of use to my husband and I in dealing with the stillbirth of our son after the funeral. Most of the advice is centered around dealing with the news itself, the delivery, notifying family and friends. If you enjoy a book that is like reading a personal diary of one woman, this book is for you. I personally did not care for it as the situations discussed were behind my husband and I by the time we read it. We found that "A Silent Sorrow" was a better fit for helping us handle long term issues beyond the first week.

This book has it all. It covers real emotions from someone that's "been there." It helped me to understand and accept my own feelings. It also helped my family and friends understand what I was going through. I have talked with several grieving parents and have recommended this book to each one of them.

Twelve years ago we lost our son Jason to a cord accident a week before our due date. Our hospital had no materials at the time, but the wonderful nurses told us about a conference they had been to with Sherokee and about the book. We went out and got it along with others and "Empty Arms" along with a 2nd book "I'll Hold You in Heaven by Jack Hayford" were the most helpful. We have been supplying both of these books to our hospitals' OB ward and to anyone we know who needs them for 12 years. These books are both wonderfully helpful and comforting at an unimaginably difficult time. I would highly recommend them not just for the parents but for extended family & friends who are trying to help and cope themselves. Thank-you to both authors for helping so many with such a tragic loss.

Sherokee Isle wrote this wonderful book that touches on all that I went through. I have recommended it to many friends with similar experiences and it has helped them cope with the loss of their little Angels too. I even wrote to her (her address is in tha back of the book) to thank her for helping me, and she sent a hand written personl note back to me telling me how sorry she was for my loss. There are many things she suggests doing to help you through this hard time. She validates your feelings and discusses her personal stories. She is a voice of experience.

I read this book about 5 weeks after my daughter was stillborn on 2/12/01 at 39 weeks. It was very technical and dealt with the decisions that need to be made in the hospital or soon after. By the time I read the book, most of the decisions the book talks about having to make had already been made. It really has not been much help through my grieving process

MY LITTLE CHRISTOPHER WAS STILLBORN ON JULY 4, 1999. I WAS DEVASTATED. MOST PEOPLE DON'T UNDERSTAND THE EMOTIONS, FEELINGS, HOPELESSNESS OF LOSING AN INFANT. MOST PEOPLE DON'T KNOW HOW TO REACT OR WHAT TO SAY. THEY TRY TO COMFORT YOU IN THEIR OWN BLIND WAY BUT MOSTLY THEY JUST MAKE THINGS WORSE. READING THIS BOOK AND EXPERIENCING HOW OTHER PARENTS FELT AND DEALT WITH THIS HORRIBLE TRAGEDY MADE ME FEEL LIKE I WAS WITH PEOPLE WHO KNEW AND REALLY UNDERSTOOD WHAT IT WAS LIKE. SO MANY THINGS THAT WERE DISCUSSED THAT THESE PARENTS WISHED THEY HAD DONE OR HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO TO REMEMBER/MEMORIALIZE THEIR CHILDREN WERE SO HELPFUL IN MY DECISION MAKING PROCESS AND BURIAL OF MY SON. IT WAS LIKE LEARNING FROM THE REGRETS OF OTHERS. IT DEFINITELY AIDED IN THE HEALING PROCESS. EVERY HOSPITAL SHOULD HAVE A COPY AVAILABLE FOR PARENTS WHO LOSE AN INFANT!

I was so happy, I was going to have a baby. Then it happened. I didn't understand, why had my baby stopped moving. I thought, oh she's must be to big. However,deep down something felt all wrong. The next day I delivered a very perfect, beautiful, little girl. Only problem, she was stillborn. We were devestated, I became withdrawn & depressed. My sister came with,"Empty Arms" & I was a little disappointed in her. How could she think a book would make things better. She left it on my bedside table since thats where I always stayed. I don't know why I picked it up, but I did. It changed my life & made me realize I had to get up & live again. Today, after years of trying & the help of IVF.I have a beautiful little girl Isabella who is 4y/o. Her sister Sophia would have been 7.

I also cannot say enough about this book. When my twins died, I read so many books, trying to find something that might help ease my pain and help me to deal with what had happened. This book was the answer. It was the only book that addressed all the questions I had, talked about every feeling I was experiencing and spoke not only about miscarriage and stillbirths, but also about infant death which none of the other books I read really discussed. It was the only book that helped to lift the pain off my heart and some of the weight off my shoulders. I donated a copy to our local chapter of SHARE and I received numerous thanks from the families trying to cope with their grief.

I recently purchased this book after suffering the stillbirth of my daughter Emily Rose. Like the author, I, too, had previous miscarriages so the death of my daughter was even more traumatic. Reading "Empty Arms" -- a very appropriate title -- helps me realize that I'm not alone and that my feelings are "normal". I'm deeply grateful to the author for publishing this book.