Customer Reviews

Empty Cradle, Broken Heart, Revised Edition: Surviving the Death of Your Baby

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

before I read Empty Cradle, Broken Heart, I didn't think that I could ever lose any of the heaviness that enclosed my heart. I felt as if I gained membership into a private club and I could take comfort in knowing that I wasn't alone. It was the first time that I had a sane thought after losing our daughter Kara Jane Kaniewski - April 24, 1997. I still take out the book and reread passages that I have read over and over. The book still helps to relieve my heavy heart. I have given this book to 3 other women who have lost their children and each one has thanked me. Unfortunately the cost to get into this book club is priceless, for you have to have lost a child or known someone who has to gain admission. I want to thank Deborah L. Davis for her gift to me and my friends, for I would have surely been killed by the heaviness of my heart and the emptiness of my arms. Please read this book if you have experienced the loss of a child. You are not alone.

Empty Cradle, Broken Heart is an excellent resource for bereaved parents. Debra Davis takes parents step by step through the grieving process and helps them to realize that they are not alone in their pain. Reading Empty Cradle, Broken Heart helped me to recognize that my feelings were not strange and that it is okay to grieve for my daughter in my own way and in my own time. Chapters include: grieving and emotional recovery, painful feelings, affirming your baby, you and your partner, your family, and support networks. Debra encourages parents to realize that they did the best that they could for their baby. When you feel that no one understands the pain you are going through, read this book, it helps.

Out of the dozens of books I read after losing my daughter prematurely, this was the one book that i couldn't put down till it was finished. It was so helpful to me and to my husband. It was nice reading other people's experiences too. I found this book so helpful that i will be donating copies to the hospital where our daughter was born so other grieving parents can have a copy of their own. It's a wonderful book...

Deborah Davis did something for me that I needed...she validated my feelings about the entire ordeal my husband and I have gone through. We made the agonizing decision to induce labor to end the pregnancy after our baby was diagnosed with a terminal birth defect. I have been feeling guilt, anger, jealousy, despair, and fear about the future. Deborah Davis touches on all these issues in this book. Interjected throughout are personal testimonies from other parents who have gone through a loss, so it helps to know others have experienced the same feelings. The author also validates the fact that a loss is a loss, no matter if the baby died before birth or after. This is SO important for the reader to be told, I know it was for me.

Nothing will bring back my baby, but this book has helped me throughout my grieving and healing process. I was hesitant about which book(s) to read, but now I know that I won't need to read anything else.

After giving birth to my son and having him die 10 days later, I was so confused as to what I was supposed to be feeling. "Empty Cradle, Broken Heart" helped me to understand what I was feeling and made me realize that I was not alone, and that what I was feeling was normal. By using quotes from bereaved parents, the reader realizes that they are not alone in their thoughts. It encourages the reader to examine how they feel and accept their grief. This book helped me through the saddest and most difficult period of my life. A copy of the book was lent to me, and I was so impressed by it that I am purchasing my own copy to refer back to it later in my life. An excellent gift idea for a close friend or relative who is going through a similar situatation, or read it yourself to understand how that person is feeling.

I loved this book! Even though I cried through much of it, it served a useful purpose. After never wanting to have children, I had a revelation that I needed to experience the joys of motherhood. I recently had a miscarriage with my first and much wanted pregnancy. I was a mess. This book helped me get over some of the loss I felt. I still feel sad often but realize that I'm not supposed to "Just get over it, already!" The book was honest, sad, hopeful, real, and made me totally feel like I was not alone in my grief. I am hopeful and anxious to finish this book by reading the chapters about trying again, coping with a subsequent pregnancy and birth, and the other chapters I know one day I will read when I feel ready to embark on the scary but exciting journey of pregnancy. I also feel compelled to share this with anyone who has gone through the death of a child. Thank you Deborah Davis, Ph.D. for the gift of this book!

This is one of the best books out there on pregnancy/infant loss. It covers the spectrum of issues including difficult decisions and an EXCELLENT chapter on subsequent pregnancy. Dr. Davis is a bereaved parent herself with extensive experience working with grieving families. Her heart and her expertise is in this book. It's definitely worth your time and your money.

Deborah Davis has combined startling facts & bereaved parents feelings exceptionally well. As the Mother of a stillborn son 9/11/97, I find this book to be the best I've found to date (and I've read at least 20!) Ironically, the author indicates in her book that she is not a bereaved parent ... usually books written by non-bereaved parents are "just facts" and tend to be rather cold. Deborah, however, excells in describing the intense emotions we as bereaved parents feel after the loss of a child and has included excerpts from bereaved parents which offer comfort and hope, helping the "we're not so all alone" feeling of our grief. Thank you, Deborah.

I have ordered many of the books on the loss of a baby and this is one of my favorites. I like its format and all the topics that it covers. It offers many examples of others who have gone through a loss, too, which helped me to feel less alone. Most of my questions were answered and she dealt with so many things I was feeling. I would recommend this to anyone who has suffered a loss or anyone who knows someone who has.

When we lost our son, I was almost 6 months pregnant. I had absolutely NO idea how to cope with such a tragedy. This book covered every subject that I had a question on, and some that I didn't even know I had! Many 3am readings helped save my sanity and my marriage. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough to anyone trying to deal with this in their lives.