You may not know it, but there is a whole community of grieving mothers right at your fingertips. Until I lost my babies, I never realized what key support could be found online — but when it comes to pregnancy loss and feeling less alone, the internet can be a beautiful place.
We all know how difficult it can be to talk openly and honestly about our grief: about the fears we’re facing, and about the challenges and milestones we’re navigating. But now that we all carry social media around in our pockets, it’s easier to begin documenting and openly sharing about life after loss. We can choose to do so anonymously or under our own name, with a private account or for the world to see. We can set our boundaries and invite people to share in our heartbreak and celebration.
And for those looking for community within the pregnancy loss world, Instagram is a key place to settle in.
For grieving parents on Instagram, a main part of sharing is processing and releasing our own grief. As we share what it looks like to walk through this loss, we demonstrate the depth of our feelings and help develop a better global understanding of pregnancy loss. We also have the opportunity to stand alongside others and say, “You’re not alone in this. I’m walking this road too. Lets remember our little ones together.”
These connections may be made online but they can still be deep, meaningful, and lead to long-lasting relationships. Often times, parents will share creative ideas for remembering miscarried babies or create artwork to remember other grieving families’ babies as well. As we share our hearts, we realize that we’re not alone in the hurts we carry — there is support and encouragement to be found in this mutual weight of grief.
So, that being said, here are some common hashtags to use or search for when finding other loss mamas:
#grievingmother
#mamagrief
#pregnancyloss
#miscarriage
#miscarriagesupport
#ttcaftermiscarriage
#pregnancyafterloss
#stillbirth
#stillbirthawareness
#stillbirthsupport
#stillbornbutstillborn
#stillbornstillloved
#miscarriagemomma
#ihadamiscarriage
#1in4
#pregnancylossawareness
#grief
#griefandloss
#lifeafterloss
Important things to note: When searching for community on Instagram, try to avoid overly general hashtags. For example, using #loss means that you’ll have a lot of weight loss photos thrown in the mix. Try to narrow down your hashtags to find other momma’s who may have had the same type of loss as you.
(Some of these more specific hashtags would look like: #ectopicpregnancy #chemicalpregnancy #twintotwintransfusionsyndrome #blightedovum #missedmiscarriage etc.)
Once you find these fellow grieving mamas, be sure to follow along and start interacting with them. You’re not alone in this. It’s so good to grieve together and there is such beautiful community to be found.
Have any other hashtag suggestions? Share them in the comments!
