Emily Scott’s son was around eight months old when she found out she was pregnant with her second baby.
Although the 怀孕 was considered low risk, Scott started experiencing cramping and contractions around 27 weeks. Her OB referred her to the emergency room, where she was monitored for several hours. Luckily, her baby passed all the testing, so Scott was sent home.
Nine days later, Scott returned to the emergency room with the same issues.
“Both the baby and I passed all the testing, and I was sent on my way again,” she said.
不幸的是, just nine days later—on Mother’s Day 2022—Scott woke up with heavy bleeding and went to the hospital for the third time where they told her the baby, 一个小女孩, 不再有心跳. 斯科特和她的丈夫给孩子取名埃莉诺. 损失惨重.
Ten months later, Scott found out she was pregnant again. She and her family had just relocated to Salt Lake City, so she started to look for a doctor. 她发现 Robert Silver, MD, chair of the Department of Obstetrics & 妇科 犹他健康大学的研究员.
“I did my research on high-risk doctors and 死胎s, and Dr. Silver’s name came up multiple times,斯科特说. “I cried on the phone while I was scheduling my first appointment with his office. 他们让我很早就来了，大概五周左右. From there, I had an ultrasound as frequently as I wanted, and Dr. Silver let me decide how often I wanted to come in for my appointments.”
For Silver, the most important thing for families to know is that 每个病人都得到个性化的护理 他们需要，这取决于他们的情况. “早产 是艾米丽的主要问题，”他说. “We did lots of additional visits and assessments just to make sure everything was okay with her baby.”
“这不是一刀切的. Each patient has their own medical and emotional needs, and we make sure we have a care plan that meets those needs.”
Scott decided to have an appointment every three weeks, until she hit her second trimester. That’s when she started to experience some bleeding again.
“I freaked out, because that’s similar to what happened when I lost my daughter,” she said. 在那一点上. 西尔弗让我每隔一周来一次.”
At 39 weeks, Scott went to 大发娱乐. “我本来希望有一个天生的, non-medicated and minimal intervention birth experience this time around, since I didn’t get to have that experience with Eleanor,斯科特说. “I ended up opting to be induced and asked for an epidural, 而且在诱导后不到12小时, my husband got to catch the baby and announce that it was a boy.”
One of the nurses took Scott’s phone and took pictures of baby Elliott meeting his mom and dad for the first time. “We got some really amazing pictures in the delivery room,斯科特说. “每个人都很支持我.”
Silver wasn’t there for the birth, but Scott was able to see him for her six-week postpartum checkup.
“He doesn’t usually do that with patients, but we were able to make it happen,斯科特说. “It was really good for me to get to see him and talk with him about how things went, especially since he wasn’t able to be there for the delivery.”
Elliott is now eight months old, and Scott is still processing her grief over losing Eleanor. “The grief has definitely changed and come up in different ways,” she said. “When Elliott does something new, I realize that I never got to see Eleanor do those things.”
Scott often wonders what Eleanor would have been like as a sister to her two brothers. “It’s definitely a different level of grief that has changed over time,” she said.
Although it has been a bittersweet journey, Scott has learned a lot.
“I learned to advocate for myself as a patient. 作为一个母亲，我对自己更有信心了, and that gave me a bit of reassurance during my 怀孕 with Elliott.”
斯科特还发现了人多的优势. “I’ve connected with a lot of moms who were going through what I went through,” she said. “I have had lots of people support me and reach out throughout my experience.”
Leaning on support from others when it’s offered is something that made a big difference for Scott and her family. “不幸的是, 死胎 is a very common thing to have happen,” she said. “But the more we talk about it, the more people realize they’re not alone.”
More about the Utah 产后怀孕计划
The Utah 产后怀孕计划 sees patients who have experienced the following:
• 任何原因的死胎
•新生儿因任何原因死亡
• Termination of 怀孕 for medical or obstetric reasons
• 复发性或其他类型的流产
•胎盘紊乱，包括 子痫前期 胎儿生长受限
• 早产 因为医疗或怀孕问题
For those whose loss has just happened, the trauma is real, with answers and support hard to find. 对于那些在失去孩子后想再要一个孩子的人, the road to a successful 怀孕 is often a terrifying and lonely journey.
遭受损失的家庭, 妊娠主要并发症, and families who hope for another baby deserve cutting-edge medical care. They also often need mental health support in ways unique to their experience