Body image and body dysmorphia after pregnancy loss (Archives)

Body image and body dysmorphia after pregnancy loss

Experiencing the death of a child while they are still inside of you can have complicated effects on one’s body image. Parents may feel divorced from their bodies & physical needs and/or may feel broken or physical blame. Alternately, they may feel deeply & possibly unwantedly physically connected. I felt all of these things.

A Letter to My Belly (Write Your Grief) | overlaid on image of Miranda making a heart on her belly (Synch Media)

24 Feb 2018 – A Letter to My Belly after the Stillbirth of my Firstborn Child

February 24, 2018

You sheltered him for nine months. You expanded with him, kept him safe. I watched you grow stretch marks, tiger stripes. I talked to him through you. I never thought to say thank you. Thank you. Thank you for holding my son, for cradling him even in death. He only ever knew love in you.

Close up of Adrian's Elephant on Miranda's lap. Miranda is wearing blue jeans and white shirt, and Elephant is sitting in her lap facing the camera (Miranda Hernandez)

Pre-Pregnancy Jeans & the Struggle with Postpartum Weight Loss after Stillbirth

December 29, 2017

Today, I put on a pair of pre-pregnancy jeans. They are tight, and my body fills them differently, but they do fit. And this, surprisingly, is also hard for me—as hard as I worked to get here, as much as I thought wearing “normal” clothing would be a cure for at least part of what ails me, I also miss it. I miss being pregnant.

Body image and body dysmorphia after pregnancy loss (Archives)