Stillbirth really has very little awareness in our society. Yes, people may know what it means and that it can happen, but did my doctor talk to me about the even remote possibility that it could occur 25% of the time? No...and I would have to say that probably most doctors do not because they do not want to scare the parents. But why?! Don't other subjects they talk to you about during your pregnancy scare you just as much? I'm more prepared when we eventually try again for another baby because the doctors will talk to me about this and take more care of me during that time. It's very unfair that we had to lose Owen to get this treatment though. Why couldn't he have had a bigger chance of survival...all because I didn't show any signs of being high-risk when apparently I was?
Also, I am saddened that the typical pregnancy books that most expectant mothers read like crazy throughout their entire pregnancy, barely touch the subject of stillbirth. More than likely because those mothers/authors have never experienced a baby loss. Those books will scare the bejeezus out of a new expectant mother with all the other mentioned problems that could go wrong, but they do not cover stillbirth very much, if at all (I would have to find mine that are hidden somewhere in my house thanks to my sister to verify this beyond my memory of the books and don't want to do that at this time).
This blog post on Stillbirth Matters, sums up the need for more awareness in our society on the subject of stillbirth quite well I think. http://stillbirthmatters.wordpress.com/2013/02/12/shhhhhhh/
The blog references this article in the NY Times, which is trying to break the silence, as well. http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/breaking-the-silence-of-stillbirth/?src=recg
If only...
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