All Angels Have Wings: One woman’s journey through grief to hope – Luleta Brown

In December 2003, Luleta Brown experienced one of life’s worst personal tragedies: her healthy unborn son died unexpectedly, four days before his official due date. She was told it was a “vague” mishap. 

The arrival of Luleta’s son was to have been the miraculous fulfillment of a long-awaited dream. The grief was profound, unlike any other grieving over death that she had ever experienced (and she had grieved over death many times). 

The subsequent days and weeks were a struggle; many times she questioned her proven resiliency and deep-rooted coping skills. As much as she tried, she could not seem to get to the point of total acceptance of this tragedy. She refused to accept that her life could be put through such upheaval for no reason; she did not believe fate had the right to do that. 

After an arduous battle, Luleta made the choice to create a reason; she had what she can only refer to as an epiphany — the experience of an insight — to write this book. While doing so, she discovered that the process of writing the poems was helping her to confront emotions she had not yet confronted; it felt like a cleansing process. Luleta was seized in a writing frenzy; she wrote all the time, practically non-stop. Many times, she thought she had covered all the essential areas, but then an important scenario would present itself, out of the blue, to be included; for example, “The Most Natural Question in the World” and “Norman.” Some topics are approached in a direct and candid way. 

The poems in All Angels Have Wings explore the gamut of emotions that Luleta experienced and struggled with. It was truly a journey through grief to hope and to finally embracing life again in a real way.

Discovering Hope – Anna Sklar 

Discovering Hope chronicles the first ten years on a journey of healing after stillbirth.
Anna’s middle son, Caleb Joshua Freedom Sklar, was stillborn on May 21, 2003.
Writing about the experience has been the best way for Anna to process the grief she felt over the unexpected loss of her baby. In this book she offers journal entries, blog posts, articles, poems, thoughts, and reflections for you to read.
During the last ten years, Anna has encouraged and supported countless people on a similar journey of grief. She found her greatest source of healing came through connecting with others and sharing their stories. Discovering Hope contains a handful of those stories, contributed by other women who have discovered some hope weaved in with the sadness and pain of their loss.
For Anna, there were no answers for the loss; there were no reasons why her tiny Caleb died so suddenly. She shares her struggle to sift through the confusion and the heavy sadness. She comes alongside you while you do the same, and offers to walk and talk with you on the journey of healing.
Faith was the greatest source of hope Anna discovered on the journey. Through praying, reading the Bible and talking with other Christians, Anna was able to find some peace about Caleb’s death. Some days she was shouting at God, some days she was weeping, and some days she was calm and peaceful. He took it all from her and comforted her like only a Heavenly Father could.
Anna has searched for ways to make Caleb’s tiny life meaningful. This book is one of those ways.
Proceeds from the book will be used for charity donations, free distribution of copies of the book, and family mission trips.

Empty Arms – Hope and Support for those who have suffered a miscarriage, stillbirth or tubal pregnancy – Pam Vredevelt

Christian-based emotional support from the “Shocking News” through “Grief” and on to the “Challenge of a Postpartum Body” and “Eating for Health”. There is also a chapter “The Bible Offers Hope & Comfort.”

Ghostbelly – Elizabeth Heineman

This isa personal account of a home birth that goes tragically wrong—ending in a stillbirth—and the harrowing process of grief and questioning that follows. It’s also Heineman’s unexpected tale of the loss of a newborn: before burial, she brings the baby home for overnight stays.
Does this sound unsettling? Of course. We’re not supposed to hold and caress dead bodies. But then again, babies aren’t supposed to die.
In this courageous and deeply intimate memoir, Heineman examines the home-birth and maternal health-care industry, the isolation of midwives, and the scripting of her own grief. With no resolution to sadness, Heineman and her partner learn to live in a new world: a world in which they face each day with the understanding of the fragility of the present.

Healing Your Grieving Heart After Stillbirth – Alan Wolfelt, Raelynn Maloney

Dr. Alan Wolfelt compassionately explores the common feelings of shock, anger, guilt, and sadness that accompany a stillborn child, offering suggestions for expressing feelings, remembering the child, and healing as a family. Ideas to help each unique person—mother, father, grandparent, sibling, friend—are included, as are thoughts from families who experienced a stillbirth. This new addition to Dr. Wolfelt’s popular series is a healing companion to families when they need it most.

Life Touches Life – Lorrainne Ash 

A mother’s story of stillbirth and healing
Unable to find answers when her only child, Victoria, was stillborn, Lorraine Ash came to write the book she longed for. It is a road map from pain and chaos to understanding and acceptance. Drawing on great thinkers, personal loves, and the wisdom of everyday events, Ash explains how she made it through this difficult emotional terrain after her daughter’s stillbirth and how her experiences led to richer ways of seeing, being, and loving in the world.

Losing Emily – Tammy Anderson 

“Losing Emily: A Journey Through Stillbirth to Finding Peace and Embracing New Hope” is a powerful and moving must read story based on the author’s own heartfelt, painful journey of surviving the stillbirth of her daughter Emily at 37.5 weeks of pregnancy. Losing Emily reaches out to help grieving parents as they embark on their journey of healing by offering words of comfort and peace, a much needed connection to someone who has been there and understands the struggle and true depth of the unimaginable pain of losing a baby. Whether your loss be from a miscarriage, stillbirth or early infant death; there is no greater heartbreak than losing your much loved and wanted child. Through Emily’s tragic death, her legacy lives on by sharing a message of new hope to help bereaved parents as they move through the difficult process of healing while finding new strength and courage to carry on without your child.

She Was Born She Died– Marion Cohen

A book of tremendously powerful by well-known poet, Marion Cohen. Expresses grief, anguish and anger extremely well.

Still: A Collection of Honest Artwork and Writings from the Heart of a Grieving Mother –  Stephanie Paige Cole 

Still. There is nothing in the world that affects us more than the death of a loved one, especially a child. Stephanie Cole found that out first hand when her unborn daughter died unexpectedly one week after her due date. Stephanie stumbled through the death of her daughter, using creative expression as a tool to navigate her way though the darkness. This book is a collection of the writings and artwork that she created in response to her loss. “Still. is the poignant exposition of the reality that besets more than 25,000 pregnant families each year in the US. Stephanie Cole’s portrayal of the year following Madeline’s death is vivid and stark, and speaks to the disbelief and emptiness of the 50% of parents who never discover why their unborn baby died. Stephanie’s year deprived of an infant is illustrative of the challenge families and those who care for them face when experiencing the loss of an unborn child. Each child is a special chapter in every family’s life, even if that chapter is but a few, heartbreaking pages of limited memories. Still. is important reading for those who experience pregnancy loss. Perhaps it is more important reading for those who have not shared the experience but wish to understand.” Dr. John J. Botti, Maternal-Fetal Medicine “Stephanie’s honesty and candor are refreshing in a society that wants everything, even mourning, wrapped up in some sort of neat package. She allows us to walk her path with her, acknowledging that everyone’s journey will be unique and that we will eventually accept what will become our new normal.” Beth Gauthier, Mother to Mark (stillborn, Feb 2007) “Stephanie writes from a place of honesty and raw emotion. Throughout her writing she weaves the dreams she and her husband had for their precious daughter Madeline. Her words help the reader understand the depth of pain felt by parents who experience the death of a much loved and hoped for baby. A great read for any professional who wants to gain a better understanding of the emotions and feelings of a grieving parent.”

Stillbirth: Yet Still Born – by Deborah L. Davis, PhD

When your baby dies before birth, you experience an extraordinary grief. You never get to hear your baby’s voice nor see life in your baby’s eyes. Still, your baby lived. Your baby came into this world. Your baby’s existence is important and real.

This small book offers tailored information and support for parents experiencing the early hours, days, and weeks that follow the death and birth of their beloved baby. Stillbirth is always a devastating shock, a heartbreaking collision of birth and death that leaves parents helpless. In this accessible book, you will find comfort and ideas for affirming and honouring your precious baby’s life.

Stillborn: The Invisible Death – John DeFrain

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 33,000 babies are stillborn each year. For the parents who experience this traumatic event, and for families, friends, and professionals, this book offers understanding, hope, and comfort. Drawing on the moving and eloquent testimony of 350 parents of stillborn babies, it explores such topics as blame, shock, and guilt; seeing, holding, and remembering the baby; the autopsy and funeral; effects on family relationships, including moving and divorce; thoughts of suicide; increased substance abuse; surviving children and subsequent pregnancies; returning to normal; and reaching out to others.

The Twenty-four Weeker: Bentley’s Story – Laura Deckard Dobbins

Laura and her husband, Hans, are expecting their first child amidst new jobs, a new home, and their first year of marriage. The Twenty-four Weeker: Bentley’s Story is one mother’s journey through pregnancy, loss, and spirituality. This short book is a true account of life’s sourest lemons.

They Were Still Born – Janel C Atlas

Stillbirth, defined as the death of an infant between 20 weeks’ gestation and birth, is a tragedy repeated thirty thousand times every year in the United States. That means more than eighty mothers a day feel their babies slip silently from their bodies, the only sound in the delivery room their own sobs. Eighty stillborn babies a day means heartbroken families mourn the death of children who will never breathe, gurgle, learn to walk, or go to school.

In 2006, Janel Atlas became one of those mothers who left the hospital with empty arms; her second daughter, Beatrice Dianne, was stillborn at 36 weeks. Reaching out for comfort, she realized a dire need shared by so many others like her, and so was born a collection of new essays by writers each sharing their firsthand experiences with stillbirth. Atlas includes selections not only from mothers but also fathers and grandparents, all of whom have intimate stories to share with readers. In addition, there are selections that answer many of the medical questions families have in the wake of a stillbirth and that offer the latest research on this devastating loss and how it might be prevented. Grieving parents will find in these pages the comfort of knowing they are not alone on this painful path, validation of their babies’ lives, and guidance from those who have suffered this tragedy. In addition, They Were Still Born both inspires and shows readers how to honor and remember their own babies and stories of loss.