Hope Beyond an Empty Cradle: The Journey Toward Healing After Stillbirth, Miscarriage, and Child Loss

Description

Tens of thousands of women and families every year lose a baby to miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death. The statistics are sobering--between 10% and 20% of pregnancies end in miscarriage, 1% in stillbirth, and nearly 23,000 babies die before their first birthday--but statistics alone miss the depth of the hurt. Each loss is personal and devastating. No woman is prepared to lose a baby, and caregivers are often unaware of how best to help. In Hope Beyond an Empty Cradle therapist Hallie Scott first shares her own story, as a mother whose only child, Abigail, was stillborn, and then leads readers through a healing process that makes space for heartbreak, despair, guilt, questions, and anger. Life is never the same in the wake of the loss, but a new normal is possible. The book will be a welcome resource for families who have lost a child, as well as for those seeking to care for them in their traumatic grief.

Hallie Scott (MA, Azusa Pacific University) is a licensed marriage and family therapist in private practice in Brea, California, and an adjunct professor at Azusa Pacific University. She and her husband lost their only child, Abigail, to a stillbirth in 2009.

'When I heard that my friend Hallie and her husband lost their baby, I was speechless. What could I possibly say or do to help? I was deeply saddened by the news but had absolutely no idea what to say. So I said nothing. I had no words for my friend of over twenty years. Hallie and Shadrach have taken their pain and given us a gift. This beautiful book will help all of us understand these losses in a real and profoundly personal way. I hope you don't need this book, but if you do, you will appreciate the personal and pastoral way Hallie guides you through the thoughts, fears, and tears associated with the road to healing.' * Paul H. Alexander, president, Hope International University * 'With authentic expression and vulnerability, Hallie allows her own experiences of loss to tell a story about God's redeeming love and the restoration of a broken heart. The journey of healing is remarkably articulated to provide an understanding of the time, space, support, and comfort needed to normalize the grief process unique to baby loss. Like Abby, this book is a gift from God to minister to the many families who have been left distraught and confused by the loss of children in their lives and offers a hope beyond all understanding.' * Melissa L. Zwart, MS, MA, LMFT, program director, Azusa Pacific University * 'This is the book I wish I had after my baby died. Hallie chronicles her own experience in a way that is refreshingly honest, relatable, and practical, and she does not shy away from questioning God in the midst of the deepest pain. Reading Hope Beyond an Empty Cradle after experiencing infant loss is like holding the hand of an empathic friend who has traveled the same road--and turns back to offer hope for your journey too.' * Rachel Lohman, founder, Hope Again Collective * 'Hope Beyond an Empty Cradle gives an authentic voice to what has been a mostly silent grief. Through her own story of heartbreak, Hallie Scott has provided a tender validation for those experiencing this often lonely journey. Her subsequent work with other baby loss moms and dads has given her a wealth of practical advice for family and friends who want to support them. For Christian readers she leaves room to question and be angry with God while remembering that he will never leave us nor forsake us. Finally, it is an important book for therapists who work with traumatic grief and PTSD.' * Theresa Cornelius, LMFT *