Regaining Joy After Pregnancy Loss

Losing a loved one is tough. Losing a child is tougher. There is something about losing a child that hits differently. A parent shouldn’t lay a child to rest in a casket. But it happens quite a bit. It has been happening since the garden. One of the most complicated losses is pregnancy loss. Questions and grief plague the minds of the parents. There is not as much closure with pregnancy loss as there is in other instances of losing a child.

Throughout God’s word, we see parents losing a child. We try to imagine the pain, but unless we have experienced the loss firsthand, we don’t quite understand the gravity of that pain. One of the first examples of child loss is Able. This wasn’t a pregnancy loss, but it was still a time when parents lost a child. Parents must grieve, but it is also important that they regain joy.

We can read in the Bible how Eve may have been grieving the loss of Abel when she gave birth to another son by the reason she gave for naming him, Seth. She states that God gave her a child in place of the one she lost.

Adam had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for, she said, “God has appointed me another child in place of Abel, because Cain killed him.”  –  Genesis 4:25, NASB

There is no replacing one child for another. But when you do decide to have another child after pregnancy loss, you can begin to find the joy that babies bring. This is not to say that you have forgotten the loss, it simply means that you are regaining joy.

Healing Scriptures.

Most of the time the physical healing is complete long before the emotional healing. Just as with any other loss, pregnancy loss is a grieving process that each person will progress through differently. God’s word contains many passages about seeking joy amid pain and suffering. He promises that He will not leave you to face it alone.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you. – Isaiah 43:2, NASB

These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world. – John 16:33, NASB

The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit. – Psalm 34:18, NASB

Christian counseling after pregnancy loss.

If you find that you are having a hard time processing the grief of pregnancy loss, please do not hesitate to reach out to a Christian counselor in your area. A Christian counselor can help you work through the process using a faith-based plan. Talking about the pain and looking for comfort in the Bible is one way a Christian counselor can help you after pregnancy loss.

In all this, you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. – 1 Peter 1:6-7, NIV