A Silent Sorrow: Pregnancy Loss - Guidance and Support for You and Your Family (Revised and Updated 2nd Edition) (Paperback)

by Ingrid Kohn (Author) "Experiencing a pregnancy loss can make you feel as if your world has turned upside down in the space of a few hours..." (more)
Key Phrases: impaired pregnancy, bereavement protocol, pregnancy loss support group, United States, Finding Solace, Becoming Pregnant Again (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
The shock of becoming parents without a baby to love is compounded by uncertainty over the cause and lack of rituals for mourning when a pregnancy ends too soon. To help parents obtain the medical and emotional support they need, the authors, founders of the Mt. Sinai Medical Center Pregnancy Support Group, provide practical suggestions to validate parents' grief; cope with the unique concerns of early loss, crisis pregnancies, stillbirth, and newborn death; find medical, religious, and family support; and manage their lives afterwards. The writing is insightful and the tone respectful and supportive, making this text an ideal guide for those who endure this loss. With its comprehensive coverage, additional data on managing problem pregnancies and rituals, and extensive list of references, this guide also becomes an essential sourcebook for professionals who work with bereaved parents.
- Kathryn Hammell Carpenter, Univ. of Illinois, Chicago
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews
In this comforting, thorough second edition of the 1993 guide for those who have suffered the loss of a pregnancy, Kohn, a social worker (and founder of the National Council of Jewish Women's Pregnancy Loss Support Program), and Moffit (a lay counselor for that program) sympathetically address the full range of tragedies, including miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, losses following a medical crisis, stillbirth, newborn death, and having to end a pregnancy because the baby's or mother's life or health is compromised. Using the term pregnancy loss to ``embrace all losses that occur whenever a wanted pregnancy has ended,'' they begin by explaining the special nature of grief that follows losing a baby. ``No matter what kind of pregnancy you experienced,'' they counsel, ``you are probably unprepared for the anguish you feel . . . you have lost a baby who was a real part of you and your hoped-for future.'' The authors consider the ways the experience of loss differs for mothers and fathers, the ways the relationship may be changed, and the medical, practical, and emotional issues for each type of pregnancy loss. ``The Response of Others'' considers the reactions of family and friends, and helping other children and grieving grandparents cope. Finally, ``Special Circumstances'' addresses career issues, infertility, and the possibility of subsequent pregnancies. A helpful update reflecting changes in both medical care and the social climate. -- Copyright ©2000, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 299 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 2nd edition (January 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415924812
• ISBN-13: 978-0415924818
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #187,228 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the first thing you should read after a loss..., December 14, 2000

By	"rjd718" (Fort Myers, FL) - See all my reviews

...and then you should keep it and read at the holidays, at the anniversary of your loss, at the anniversary of your baby's due date, and any other time you need to understand the experience of losing a baby. If you have a friend or relative who has experienced a pregnancy loss, send her (or him) a copy of her own. No other book covers such a wide range of medical, phyical and emotional experiences that surround pregancy loss. I should know -- after the stillbirth of my first daughter, I read everything in print about pregnancy loss. I just read the recently revised edition, and was happy to see that it increased information about the kinds of losses that so many women are experiencing in this age of high-tech infertility treatments, and that Kohn and Moffitt are dead-on about the complex range of emotions women and their partners undergo. Combining deep wisdom about ageless issues of parenthood and grieving with the often terrifying new territory of high tech childbearing, this is a book that will touch many lives.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Mixed Review, September 6, 2003

By A Customer

This book was sent to me by a friend after the stillbirth of my first child. It had been recommended to her by someone who had suffered multiple pregnancy losses. I'm giving it a mixed review because although there was much that was helpful in the book, I also felt there were ways it could be improved. The best parts of the book were the chapters you could share with your spouse and parents, the chapter on dealing with family & friends (especially the practical suggestions of what to say when someone says something thoughtless to you), and the list of rituals which was an appendix in the back. One of the things I had a hard time with was that the authors try to cover so much information relating to miscarriage, stillbirth and infant death. At times I thought they focused too much on the differences between the grief process for each of these types of loss, rather than the common ground. Although there are quotes from bereaved parents throughout the book, I felt somehow that the book lacked a personal touch, it seemed very clinical, professional to me. If in your grief you want to read the first person accounts of others this isn't the book for you.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive book on pregnancy loss, May 11, 2000

By A Customer

For anyone who has had the sadness to suffer the loss of a child, A SILENT SORROW is THE definitive book to own. It is not only written for the Mother and Father, but grandparents, siblings, friends and health care professionals. It's section on dealing with your loss, understanding the devastation of the grief and coping with it were instrumental in helping me deal with the loss of my daughter, who was stillborn at nine months. I read it, and reread it - sometimes daily - because it provided the comfort and support I needed. It also provides practical advice on creating services, coping with others, thinking about second pregnancies and anniversary reactions. I cannot say enough good things about this book, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a sensitive and practical insight on the sad, and often little known subject of pregnancy loss.