A rainbow baby is a term for a child born to a family that has previously lost one or more children due to stillbirth, miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, termination for medical reasons, or death during infancy. [1] These subsequent pregnancies can bring "strong feelings of anxiety, guilt, and even fear" but also "immense joy, reflection, healing, and mixed emotions". The term "rainbow" is symbolic of the hope brought by the child after the emotional storm of the previous loss. [2] [3]
Research conducted at the University of Michigan establishes that "parental relationships have a higher risk of dissolving after a miscarriage or stillbirth, compared with a live birth", and that the risk is highest for those couples who have experienced a stillbirth. [4]
In the 21st century, such parents seeking to have another child often turn to online support groups for information and encouragement. [5]
According to physician Jennifer Kulp-Makarov, "It is an extremely emotional and devastating experience to lose a pregnancy or baby. To create a life or bring a baby into the world after such a loss is amazing like a miracle for these parents." [6]
Those interested in supporting such families have designated August 22 each year as "National Rainbow Baby Day". [7] Some professional photographers volunteer to take free photos of these babies. [8] In some cases, these are group photographs. [9] [10]
Although the term rainbow baby is widely used in the pregnancy loss community, some women feel discomfort with the term, each for their own reasons. They might feel the term focuses on the baby's death rather than their real life or they might think that there is no need to put a label that gives this child a special identity or title in relation to their other siblings. [11]
Childbirth, also known as labour, parturition and delivery, is the completion of pregnancy where one or more babies exits the internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section. In 2019, there were about 140.11 million human births globally. In the developed countries, most deliveries occur in hospitals, while in the developing countries most are home births.
Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion, is the death and expulsion of an embryo or fetus before it can survive independently. The term miscarriage is sometimes used to refer to all forms of pregnancy loss and pregnancy with abortive outcomes before 20 weeks of gestation.
In human reproduction, a live birth occurs when a fetus exits the mother showing any definite sign of life such as voluntary movement, heartbeat, or pulsation of the umbilical cord, for however brief a time and regardless of whether the umbilical cord or placenta are intact. After the fetus is expelled from the maternal body it is called a neonate. Whether the birth is vaginal or by caesarean section, and whether the neonate is ultimately viable, is irrelevant.
Stillbirth is typically defined as fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without signs of life. A stillbirth can often result in the feeling of guilt or grief in the mother. The term is in contrast to miscarriage, which is an early pregnancy loss, and sudden infant death syndrome, where the baby dies a short time after being born alive.
Grief is the response to the loss of something deemed important, particularly to the loss of someone or some living thing that has died, to which a bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, grief also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, cultural, spiritual and philosophical dimensions. While the terms are often used interchangeably, bereavement refers to the state of loss, while grief is the reaction to that loss.
Surrogacy is an arrangement, often supported by a legal agreement, whereby a woman agrees to childbirth on behalf of another person(s) who will become the child's parent(s) after birth. People pursue surrogacy for a variety of reasons such as infertility, dangers or undesirable factors of pregnancy, or when pregnancy is a medical impossibility.
Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops (gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins.
Prenatal development involves the development of the embryo and of the fetus during a viviparous animal's gestation. Prenatal development starts with fertilization, in the germinal stage of embryonic development, and continues in fetal development until birth.
Complications of pregnancy are health problems that are related to, or arise during pregnancy. Complications that occur primarily during childbirth are termed obstetric labor complications, and problems that occur primarily after childbirth are termed puerperal disorders. While some complications improve or are fully resolved after pregnancy, some may lead to lasting effects, morbidity, or in the most severe cases, maternal or fetal mortality.
Perinatal mortality (PNM) is the death of a fetus or neonate and is the basis to calculate the perinatal mortality rate. Perinatal means "relating to the period starting a few weeks before birth and including the birth and a few weeks after birth."
A memory box is a box containing objects that serve as reminders.
Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day is an annual day of remembrance observed on October 15 for pregnancy loss and infant death, which includes miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS, ectopic pregnancy, termination for medical reasons, and the death of a newborn. Pregnancy and infant loss is a common experience that has historically been complicated by broadly applied social and cultural taboos to stay silent, a condition that the World Health Organization advocates reversing in favor of open expression. A growing number of public figures have come out in support of open expression, with many leading by example through the disclosure of their personal experiences of pregnancy loss and infant death.
Christine Diane Teigen is an American model and television personality. She made her professional modeling debut in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 2010 and appeared on the 50th-anniversary cover alongside Nina Agdal and Lily Aldridge in 2014. She formerly appeared as a panelist on the syndicated daytime talk show FABLife (2015–2016). She co-hosted the musical competition series Lip Sync Battle (2015–2019) with LL Cool J and was a judge on the comedy competition series Bring the Funny (2019). Teigen has also authored three cookbooks.
Mizuko kuyō (水子供養) meaning "water child memorial service", is a Japanese Buddhist ceremony for those who have had a miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion. It is also practiced in Thailand and China. This practice has become particularly visible since the 1970s with the creation of shrines devoted solely to this ritual. Reasons for the performance of these rites can include parental grief, desire to comfort the soul of the fetus, guilt for an abortion, or even fear of retribution from a vengeful ghost.
The Mariposa Trust is a charity in the United Kingdom founded by Zoë Clark-Coates, to support people who have suffered baby loss, in pregnancy, at birth or in infancy. It holds public Services of Remembrance, of any or no religious faith, across the UK to acknowledge the loss of a baby by their families, and by arranging specialist support divisions to help people with their associated grief and trauma. It is one of the organizations that supports baby loss awareness week.
Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS) is a U.S. based charitable organization operating worldwide, that offers free professionally taken photographs of stillborn babies and babies who die early in life.
Jamie Nicole Hehner is an American television personality and jewelry designer who first appeared as a contestant on the sixteenth season of The Bachelor. She is best known for participating in the first season of Married at First Sight, where she met her husband, Doug Hehner. The couple was later featured in a spin-off series, Married at First Sight: The First Year. They have since appeared in several specials on FYI.
Miscarriage and grief are both an event and subsequent process of grieving that develops in response to a miscarriage. Almost all those experiencing a miscarriage experience grief. This event is often considered to be identical to the death of a child and has been described as traumatic. "Devastation" is another descriptor of miscarriage. Grief is a profound, intensely personal sadness stemming from irreplaceable loss, often associated with sorrow, heartache, anguish, and heartbreak. Sadness is an emotion along with grief, on the other hand, is a response to the loss of the bond or affection was formed and is a process rather than one single emotional response. Grief is not equivalent to depression. Grief also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, cultural, and philosophical dimensions. Bereavement and mourning refer to the ongoing state of loss, and grief is the reaction to that loss. Emotional responses may be bitterness, anxiety, anger, surprise, fear, and disgust and blaming others; these responses may persist for months. Self-esteem can be diminished as another response to miscarriage. Not only does miscarriage tend to be a traumatic event, women describe their treatment afterwards to be worse than the miscarriage itself.
Mental disorders can be a consequence of miscarriage or early pregnancy loss. Even though women can develop long-term psychiatric symptoms after a miscarriage, acknowledging the potential of mental illness is not usually considered. A mental illness can develop in women who have experienced one or more miscarriages after the event or even years later. Some data suggest that men and women can be affected up to 15 years after the loss. Though recognized as a public health problem, studies investigating the mental health status of women following miscarriage are still lacking. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can develop in women who have experienced a miscarriage. Risks for developing PTSD after miscarriage include emotional pain, expressions of emotion, and low levels of social support. Even if relatively low levels of stress occur after the miscarriage, symptoms of PTSD including flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, dissociation and hyperarousal can later develop. Clinical depression also is associated with miscarriage. Past responses by clinicians have been to prescribe sedatives.
The Memory Garden is the first Jewish sacred space in the United States dedicated to expressing grief over infertility, pregnancy loss due to miscarriage or abortion, or stillbirth or death of a newborn. Judaism has a complex definition of the beginning of life, and does not have a traditional ritual for mourning fetuses or newborns prior to the age of thirty days. The Memory Garden builds on existing traditions, following halakah, and acknowledges the need of expectant parents and other family members across all streams of Jewish practice to recognize the emotional toll these losses take.