Healthy Living

On Saturday, Oct. 15, a wave of light will gently brighten our world in remembrance of the babies lost in pregnancy or early infancy. All who have experienced this devastating loss — including parents, grandparents, siblings and caregivers — are invited to light a candle in honor of an angel.

Backus Hospital will host a free Remembrance Day memorial at 3 p.m. in its courtyard. Remembrance Day is a national event.

Approximately 16% of pregnancies — or more than 1 million each year — end in a miscarriage or stillbirth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

These statistics illustrate how common this tragedy is. For many, healing can only come by grieving with others. Suffering alone and keeping everything inside can make things worse.

The support we experience when we grieve in community settings — whether it at a Remembrance Day event or our monthly support group at Backus — can facilitate the healing necessary to move forward with life.

Other tips for coping can include:

• Be patient with your spouse or partner
• Get plenty of rest
• Eat right
• Exercise

Don’t try to forget what happened. In fact, activities such as planting a tree, keeping a journal, scrapbooking or donating to a charity to memorialize the baby can have healing effects.

To learn more about the monthly support group or the event Oct. 15, call 860-889-8331, ext. 4239.

Elynor Carey is a social worker in the Backus Hospital Care Management Department. This column should not replace advice or instruction from your personal physician. If you want to comment on this column or others, visit the Healthy Living blog at www.backushospital.org/backus-blogs or e-mail Ms. Carey or any of the Healthy Living columnists at healthyliving@wwbh.org