The purpose of VDH’s Pregnancy Loss Initiative is to build the capacity of community organizations to provide pregnancy loss support and education services to individuals and groups (including families) who have experienced pregnancy loss. This program includes but is not limited to the following: miscarriage (including molar and ectopic pregnancy), termination/abortion for medical reasons, stillbirth and neonatal death, sudden unexpected death of an infant, and pregnancy after loss.
Miscarriage is typically defined as a pregnancy that ends before 20 weeks, and a stillbirth is defined as a pregnancy that ends after 20 weeks.
- Some research suggests that as many as 30% of pregnancies end in miscarriage (March of Dimes, 2023).
- Approximately 1 in 175 pregnancies end in stillbirth, affecting 21,000 pregnancies annually (Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, 2024).
- Research suggests that even after the birth of a healthy child, some parents who have experienced pregnancy loss continue to grieve for years. Pregnancy loss may affect future pregnancies, the ability of a parent to care for their other children, and may lead to the development of mental health issues (e.g. anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorders) (Markin, 2017).
By increasing access to pregnancy loss support services among Virginians, VDH aims to help individuals and families heal, thus resulting in positive health outcomes for children, adults, families, and communities.
YOU ARE NOT ALONE
Resources
Partners
The following agencies partner with VDH to offer pregnancy loss services:
- Birth in Color RVA: Nonprofit organization that offers grief support, community events, and doula services for bereaved individuals/families. Birth in Color RVA also offers a variety of educational and support programs related to reproductive justice and maternal health.
- Full Circle Grief Center: Nonprofit organization that offers grief counseling and community events for bereaved individuals/families. Full Circle Grief Center also offers a variety of loss-specific bereavement support programs, including perinatal loss, suicide loss and overdose/substance use-related loss.
- Kennedy’s Angel Gowns: Nonprofit organization that offers burial kits (“angel boxes”), financial assistance for burials, and doula support to bereaved individuals and families. Kennedy’s Angel Gowns also offers a variety of community events and referrals.
- Sisters in Loss: Nonprofit organization that offers grief support to bereaved individuals and families. Sisters in Loss also creates educational content about pregnancy loss, infant loss, and infertility.
- VCU Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology: Hospital system that provides clinical care to patients experiencing a loss, as well as mental health, spiritual, doula, and memento support items. VCU Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology is part of VCU Health System, which offers a wide variety of clinical services including Complex Family Planning. The VCU Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology maintains a list of resources for individuals and families who have experienced pregnancy loss.
Additional Resources
In addition to VDH’s partners listed above, the organizations below also offer pregnancy and infant loss support to families. These organizations do not receive funding from VDH, and inclusion on this list does not indicate an endorsement.
- Aaliyah in Action (AiA): Nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting individuals and families experiencing pregnancy and infant loss, reminding families they are not alone in their journey. AiA offers comfort boxes, bereavement resources, and community-centered events to provide hope and healing to those navigating pregnancy and infant loss. AiA partners with hospitals and ships individual packages to families as well.
- Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN): Nursing organization that empowers nurses to make a difference for women, pregnant and postpartum individuals, and newborns by providing essential resources. This includes a Perinatal Bereavement Resource Webpage and a Perinatal Bereavement Certificate Program.
- Bliley’s: Funeral home that offers free communal burial services for babies who are miscarried, stillborn, or live for fewer than 24 hours with their Interment of Angels Program.
- Elijah’s Purpose: Faith-based organization that provides financial assistance for burials, bereavement packages, and grief counseling.
- Isaiah Henry’s Legacy: Faith-based organization that offers NICU care packages and bereavement packages.
- Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep: Organization that offers remembrance portraits to parents experiencing the death of a baby.
- Push for Empowered Pregnancy: Nonprofit organization that works with parents, providers, and policymakers to address the systemic flaws that lead to preventable stillbirths. Push for Empowered Pregnancy offers “Caring for PAL Patients – Guidance for
- Providers in Pregnancy After Loss,” an eLearning Module for prenatal medical providers, birth workers, and staff who strive to provide sensitive, trauma-informed care to patients who are pregnant again after a previous stillbirth or other pregnancy/infant loss.
- Weighted Angels: Nonprofit organization that provides weighted stuffed animals to families for comfort. Weighted Angels partners with several hospitals and accepts individual requests.
Contact reproductivehealth@vdh.virginia.gov for more information.
Full Circle Grief Center, a nonprofit organization in Richmond, Virginia, developed a Bereavement Manual to help grieving families and anyone supporting grieving families, including families facing pregnancy loss.
Pregnancy Loss Promotional Materials
Share these Pregnancy Loss messages on social media or with those who need support. To save images, right click and "Save image as" to your digital device.
Pregnancy After Prenatal Loss Video
Families who have experienced pregnancy loss deserve support. Learn how VCU, one of VDH's partner agencies, works with families as they navigate pregnancy after loss.