Remembering Pregnancy and Infant Loss During October's Awareness Month

The other day, I received a message from one of my best friends asking me if I have Timehop on my phone. Unfortunately I do not, but according to her Timehop, seven years ago we were making t-shirts together; not just any t-shirts, “Save the Ta-Ta’s” t-shirts.

As I looked at those pictures, I realized that “back then” the month of October meant two things to me: Halloween and Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It was such a big deal that I decided to join in on the awareness and make a fun t-shirt with my best friend.

Wow! How things have changed!

Like I did eight years ago, most people think of October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. My grandmother and great grandmother both battled breast cancer, so finding a cure for breast cancer is something near and dear to my heart. However, October has become something more for me, it become Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, an awareness month I began observing when infant loss became personal with our loss of Robby.

Over the years the “silence” has been broken about breast cancer awareness. Everyone has heard some of the hundreds of fun sayings like: “Save the TaTa’s” or “Save Second Base” and “Yes, these are fake, my real ones tried to kill me.”

Men, women, and children will all wear these shirts, join in on fun runs and are active in supporting breast cancer awareness. While one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, one in four women will experience either pregnancy or infant loss.

It is my hope that someday our society will be able to break the silence surrounding pregnancy and infant loss. We know that it can be done! Look at how far breast cancer awareness has come. It does not bother most people to talk about saving the “ta ta’s,” so why should it bother people to talk about pregnancy and infant loss.

We don’t have any clever sayings to help, just our plea. Please remember our babies this month. The babies who were loved, but never seen. The babies who were born sleeping into this world, the babies who were born but never got to go home and the babies that went home but did not get to stay.

So please, while saving the boobies this month, take a minute to help raise awareness for the babies.