In the Spotlight Healing Through Collaboration
8
S P R I N G 2 0 17
ject. We began to formulate an agenda. We set out to expand upon the current literature by conducting our own research and to make the literature more readily available to the general public by creating a blog. Our blog, iplcollaborative. blogspot.com, is aimed at sharing the current literature, as well as sharing the stories of women who have experienced involuntary pregnancy loss.” The misconceptions and stigmas associated with pregnancy loss are numerous. It’s not uncommon for a woman to keep her pregnancy a secret for the first 12 weeks, waiting to make sure the baby is healthy and viable before announcing the big news.
1 in 4 women experience involuntary pregnancy loss “The unwritten cultural rule is that you’re not supposed to tell people that you’re pregnant until you’re past 12 weeks,” Grigg said. “The idea is, don’t tell people you’re pregnant, so that if you have a miscarriage, you don’t have to tell anyone. What happens then is that you have women who experience involuntary pregnancy loss who don’t feel comfortable sharing when they do have a miscarriage because society
Photo: David Pavlak
M
isconception and misunderstanding are often defining characteristics of pregnancy loss. Terminology can be confusing and inconsistent. Research on the topic is scarce and uncategorized. This lack of descriptive definition and response would suggest pregnancy loss is a rare occurrence, but it happens every day—more often than society acknowledges. The physical toll women experience is significant, and the emotional and mental distress can be devastating, especially without societal support. In response, three Holy Family University faculty members are doing their part to create more academic research regarding pregnancy loss, as well as create a place for women to share their experiences, open dialog, and heal during the stressful process. Dr. Kimberly Dasch-Yee, Associate Professor of Psychology, Dr. Jenai Grigg, Associate Professor of Sociology, and Dr. Stacy McDonald, Associate Professor of Psychology, have formed the Involuntary Pregnancy Loss (ipl) Collaborative as a way to shed some light on a dark topic. All three are able to speak about the topic candidly, as individuals who have overcome loss. “We began discussing involuntary pregnancy loss because it was something we have all experienced first-hand,” Grigg said. “We noticed large gaps in the literature and the limited access the general public has to empirical work on the sub-