October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, and despite restrictions brought upon by the pandemic, parents in Northeast Ohio who have experienced a miscarriage will still be able to honor their lost loved ones.
Babies in Northeast Ohio who have died before the age of one will be honored in a ceremony this week known as the Wave of Light.
Parents who have experienced miscarriage or lost an infant provide the names of their children to First Year Cleveland, who will announce the names of those lost and light a candle in their memory in an online ceremony taking place Oct. 15.
Parents will be able to join by lighting their own candles at home.
Sam Pierce, a lead family advocate on First Year Cleveland’s Pregnancy and Infant Loss Committee, says that it is important for parents to share their loss with families who have traveled the same road.
“We bury our head in the sand. You know what I mean? And we think that we’re all by ourselves when we’re not, and we heal better when we’re together,” she said.
Each year the ceremony takes place Oct. 15 with the lighting at 7 p.m. in each time zone throughout the world. That creates a wave of light for 24 hours.
Pierce, who has lost three babies, says that parents suffer when well-meaning friends do not acknowledge their loss.
“Honestly, I need you to say my baby’s name. I need you to talk about them because if you sweep them under the rug, you act like my baby was never here and that’s more painful than never saying their name,” she said.
Pierce assures parents that they will heal. She encourages grieving parents to connect with other families by visiting the Pregnancy and Infant Loss Committee’s website.
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