It is a painful subject we don’t talk about enough.
Sharon Stone this week revealed she had lost nine children through miscarriage and criticised society for making women feel they have to cope with their trauma alone.
The movie legend discussed her heartbreak on social media in response to US reality star Peta Murgatroyd sharing her own story of pregnancy loss.
“It is no small thing, physically nor emotionally,” said the 64-year-old star. “Yet we are made to feel it is something to bear alone and secretly with some kind of sense of failure. Instead of receiving the much needed compassion and empathy and healing which we so need.”
The veteran actress, who went on to adopt sons Roan, 22, Laird, 16, and Quinn, 15, is sadly right.
The NHS estimates one in eight women who know they are pregnant will go on to miscarry, making pregnancy loss much more common than the majority of people realise.
Losing a baby in this way can be emotionally and physically draining, leading to guilt, shock and anger among others.
Some women will go on to suffer from depression and anxiety even after the subsequent birth of a healthy child.
This is why it’s so important they don’t feel alone.
Sharon speaking out will help countless women and she isn’t the first star to share her story.
Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, revealed she had a miscarriage while holding her firstborn son, Archie, in 2019. And singer Lily Allen, who has two daughters, spoke of coming to terms with her miscarriage in 2008, saying: “I just didn’t deal with it at all. The week before the due date, all I wanted to do was talk about my baby, but I also felt I shouldn’t.”
I have several friends who have opened up to me about suffering from a miscarriage. One close pal told me that speaking of her heartbreak meant other friends revealed their own losses in return and this helped her to feel much less alone.
It is vital that women know they are allowed to grieve openly for their baby and the future they imagined, no matter how early the losses they suffer. As Sharon says, they have the right to be acknowledged, to be comforted and to be given all the support they need.
The more we can speak about miscarriage, the better.
