Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Pregnancy Loss Resource: Grieving Together

Hello dear readers! It's been a while since I published a post and even longer since I posted regularly, but since this blog does get regular hits from women (and probably men) looking for miscarriage resources and support and companionship, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share - and giveaway! - an incredible new miscarriage resource. I received a free copy of the book to review, but my admiration is 100% authentic.

In the five years since my first miscarriage, I've often thought of the books I wish had been written about miscarriage. I've really yearned for miscarriage books specifically from the Catholic perspective and there aren't many out there. I've wished for books about pregnancy after loss, ones specifically about recurrent miscarriage, and books that connected the Saints and their wisdom to pregnancy loss. However, one of the books I never thought about that (I didn't realize) I needed was one written by a married couple: Grieving Together: A Couple's Journey through Miscarriage.


Perhaps the most unique aspect of this book is not that it discusses marriage (though that too is novel), but that it includes a male author, a father's voice. Men are usually completely left out of the topic of miscarriage all together, something I quickly realized after my first loss. Written by Laura Kelly Fanucci and Franco David Fanucci, a couple who experienced infertility, miscarriage, and infant death together, Grieving Together finally addresses this deficit (and so much more).

One of the things I appreciate most about this book is that, though less than 200 pages, it covers a wide range of aspects of miscarriage, including not only grieving as a couple, but also the answers to many of the practical and spiritual questions about loss, for example: What is physical recovery like? What can you do to support a friend who lost a baby? Are miscarried babies in heaven? And it also has an excellent section on pregnancy after loss, satisfying my desire for a book on that topic.


I can't recommend this book enough for any Catholic couple who has lost a baby to miscarriage (and much of the book is relevant to any Christian couple). I could go on and on about the merits of this book, but I'll just leave you with this final praise, the email message I sent to author Laura Fanucci while reading my copy: "Laura, thank you so much for this book. It’s been almost 4 years and two healthy pregnancies and babies since my last (my fourth) miscarriage but for some reason the past month has been really hard. This been has helped heal some of the hurt I didn’t realize was still there. On two occasions, I’ve also come to bed to see my husband had snagged my copy off my nightstand and was reading it."

Grieving Together was released earlier this month and is available from Our Sunday Visitor and Amazon. You can also read more from Laura Fanucci at her lovely blog, Mothering Spirit. Excerpts of the book have also been turned into a free e-book, "How To Support Parents Who Have Lost a Child", a wonderful resource in itself.



If you would like to win this book for yourself or to give to a friend who has experienced miscarriage, please comment below with why you would want to win this book/what you are most interested in reading about in it. Please make sure to include an email address so I can contact you if you win. A winner will be randomly chosen on Dec. 6 (the Feast of St. Nicholas) so I can ship it to you in time for Christmas, since the holidays can be a particularly difficult time after losing a baby (even years later, Christmas is difficult for me without all my children here). God bless you and good luck!

7 comments:

  1. I would love to win a copy of this book! We lost a baby 4 years ago and I still struggle with what-ifs, feelings of guilt, and a deep fear of losing future pregnancies.

    My email is
    Quotidianadventures@gmail.com

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  2. After going through a miscarriage in March 2017, my husband and came up dry when it came to resources for how to grieve together as a Catholic couple. After sharing our story with friends and family, we realized that many more couples than we could have ever imagined go through miscarriage. I'd love to have this book to give away to the next friend that approaches us as they grieve the loss of their child.

    You can reach me at chloe.langr@gmail.com

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  3. I have this book but would love to win a copy to keep on hand for when someone I know has a miscarriage. It means so much when someone "gets" miscarriage, and I feel like this book ensures that even if you don't have friends or family who understand, you would have not only Franco and Laura but also all the people who shared their stories in the book!

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  4. I'd love to win this. We have experienced a loss, and we know so many families who have. I'd love to be able to read it myself but also pass it around.

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  5. What a beautiful, helpful idea for a book. I would read this myself and then pass it along to a friend.

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  6. This book sounds amazing! Thank you for your review. I would love this book to grow in understanding and empathy for the people who have lost babies to miscarriage, and also to be able to loan this to friends of mine who have lost their babies in miscarriage.
    E-mail is contactmarianninja@gmail.com

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