When someone you know experiences a miscarriage, it can be difficult to know how to offer support – sometimes, things said with good intentions can come across as insensitive or unhelpful.
To help you find the words, the Miscarriage Association has launched four greeting cards, designed for people who have gone through miscarriages, ectopic or molar pregnancies.
Each design has black text on a simple white card, and features messages approved by a panel of women who have experienced miscarriages themselves. “This is totally ****. So here’s a hug in an envelope. A folded squeeze. From me. To you,” one card reads.
Another card reads: “This is the worst. But I’ve got your back. And your front. And everything in between.”
Each card also has details of the Miscarriage Association helpline inside.
One of the women on the panel, Natasha Necati, has had eight miscarriages. “I would have loved to receive cards like these,” she said. “I especially like the one that says ‘I wish this wasn’t happening to you. I don’t know what to say. But I promise I am here for you.’ It says it all.”
Ruth Bender Atik, national director of the Miscarriage Association, said often when someone experiences a miscarriage, close family and friends don’t know what to say – and some say nothing at all. “The new cards have been launched to fill that gap,” she said. “Losing a pregnancy is heartbreaking and can be very lonely. [The cards] may even become a treasured memento, the acknowledgement of the briefest of lives.”
The cards cost £3.50 each and can be bought online or at one of Postmark’s four London stores. Postmark will be donating all the proceeds from sales of the cards directly to the Miscarriage Association.
You can buy the cards here.
The Miscarriage Association helpline is open Monday to Friday, 9am-4pm on 01924 200799.