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

by Deborah L. Davis (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The heartache of miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death affects thousands of U.S. families every year. Empty Cradle, Broken Heart offers reassurance to parents who struggle with anger, guilt, and despair after such tragedy. Deborah Davis encourages grieving and makes suggestions for coping. The book includes information on issues such as the death of one or more babies from a multiple birth, pregnancy interruption, and the questioning of aggressive medical intervention. There is also a special chapter for fathers as well as a chapter on "protective parenting" to help anxious parents enjoy their precious living children. Doctors, nurses, relatives, friends, and other support persons can gain special insight. Most importantly, parents facing the death of a baby will find necessary support in this gentle guide. If reading this book moves you to cry, try to accept this reaction. Your tears merge with those of other grieving parents. You are not alon! e.

About the Author
Deborah L. Davis, PhD., is a development psychologist who specializes in perinatal bereavement, parent education, and child development. She is also a member of the advisory board for Pen-Parents, the international network for bereaved parents.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Fulcrum Publishing; Revised & enlarged edition (1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555913024
• ISBN-13: 978-1555913021
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #27,534 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #13 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Psychology & Counseling > By Topic > Grief
  #52 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Death & Grief > Grief & Bereavement
  #56 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Psychology & Counseling > Developmental Psychology

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I could feel my heart lift like I never thought I would., August 16, 1999

By A Customer

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.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reading for grieving parents!, March 30, 2000

By	Jen Mountney (New Lowell, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

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.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book that I've read, December 23, 2001

By	Jennifer Lawlor (Georgia) - See all my reviews

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...