Customer Reviews

Free to Grieve: Healing and Encouragement for Those Who Have Suffered Miscarriage and Stillbirth

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is written from a Christian perspective, but it isn't so "preachy" that people of other faiths or beliefs couldn't benefit from it. The book holds a special place in my heart since it helped me grieve myself, and I have given it out to friends and relatives and recommended it to patients. I have gotten much positive feedback from the recipients. One of the main strengths of this book is that it deals very well with the issue of early pregnancy loss, as well as late-term and infant death. Other books sometimes give early miscarriage little to no attention, and in my own experience, until I found this book, I didn't feel validated or supported about the issues of my early losses. This book makes it clear that no matter the stage of pregnancy, it is ok and right to grieve about your loss. It helps clear up myths about pregnancy loss, and also helps deal with issues that can interfere with normal, necessary grieving processes. I have read similar books, and got some help from them, but some of them were so focused on telling the story of someone else and how they dealt with their loss that they made me feel even worse. This book is set up into fairly short chapters, with titles, and it makes it easy to pick and choose what you want to read so you can skip chapters that you don't feel apply to you. I can't say enough about this invaluable book. I personally am very grateful to the author for writing this very helpful book and I try to keep at least one copy on hand to give out to people who are going through pregnancy loss. It can be a little difficult to find this book in bookstores, and it is one that is sometimes needed unexpectedly, so it is worth it to me to have one available just in case I want to reach out to help someone going through what I did.

Maureen Rank, in this book, becomes that friend from whom you long to hear just the right words (which is rare in times of deep pain and loss). I highly recommend her book--it's at the TOP of my list for anyone who has miscarried.

Sandra Glahn, When Empty Arms Become a Heavy Burden & The Infertility Companion

After loosing my first baby to miscarriage recently I borrowed this book and I hightly recommend it to anyone in a similar situation. Society tends to underestimate the emotional devistation and grief experienced after the loss of a baby to miscarriage or stillbirth. The author confirms and explains why in fact we are "FREE TO GRIEVE".

It has been 8 1/2 years since losing my 2-day-old daughter, and almost as long since reading this book. However, I remember how much it helped me in the grieving process. It's important to know that when you miscarry or have a stillbirth, it is absolutely alright to grieve over that loss. This book helped me to realize that. It is a wonderful book that deals with alot of different aspects of the grieving process...not only your own grief, but the responses of others around you. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has experienced such a loss!

Finding this book allowed me to find myself again. When you lose a child, there's really nothing anyone can say to ease your pain. And yet this book says so much that can help you navigate the emotional mixmaster that is miscarriage. I will never be able to thank the friend who gave it to me enough.

Finding this book allowed me to find myself again. When you lose a child, there's really nothing anyone can say to ease your pain. And yet this book says so much that can help you navigate the emotional mixmaster that is miscarriage. I will never be able to thank the friend who gave it to me enough.

After meeting Maureen Rank several years ago and finding her to be an incredibly down-to-earth woman and very sensitive and caring regarding this subject, I have shared this book with several friends who have struggled with miscarriage or stillbirth. All reported that this book was significantly helpful and important to them in their grieving and healing process. In addition, those friends now share this book with their friends who are grieving. Thank you, Maureen Rank, for writing this book to encourage men and women who grieve from the loss of their children. You have helped so many people.

This book was given to me many years ago, went out of print and now thankfully is in print again. It has become one of the 'must-have-on-our-bookshelf' and 'must-keep-extra-copies-Free to Grieve: Healing and Encouragement for Those Who Have Suffered Miscarriage and Stillbirthon-hand-to-give-away' treasure. The author has been through many infant losses and does a remarkable job in helping you understand the grief process, how your husband likely grieves in a different way and even how to work through those incredibly hard questions your other children may ask you about this loss. It helped me discover that it is quite normal for grief to not only vary every day in its measure but also that you can have days much later on where you get up and it feels acutely fresh. This is all normal and we are best comforted, healed and able to go on if we simply allow this process to have its normal path in and through us. This book and the process of grieving the loss of a pregnancy has certainly helped me in how best to reach out to others in their grief process in knowing better what to say and do that will help usher in comfort and healing. It is most definitely a 'must have' book.

I think this book helps you understand that it truly is ok to go through a "grieving process" when you have had a miscarriage. My problem was very early in the game but that didn't mean I didn't have a whirlwind of emotions going on! I recommend the book to anyone that has experienced a miscarriage.

I found this book to be helpful during one of my hardest times (following the loss of a pregnancy). It provided some good information and has a Christian perspective. It also deals with what your spouse is going through. I would recommend this book; however, I would do so second to Pam Vredevelt's "Empty Arms", as it best helped me to move past the grief I was dealing with. In summary: a lot of good information but I would recommend reading it in combination with the aforementioned book.