The Experience of a Miscarriage: Eowyn Ivey's The Snow Child

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“She had withered and shrunk in on herself, and it began when they lost that baby,” (Ivey 20). “She should have allowed herself that grief,” (Ivey 4). The novel The Snow Child explores the reactions, guilt and grief corresponding to the experience of a miscarriage. The relationship between miscarriage and grief has been given sparse attention over the years. People vary in the way they respond to a miscarriage; anywhere from age to gender or even a child that was conceived after the previous miscarriage. Studies have been conducted over the years to observe the connection between grief and miscarriages and as a result different variables have been formed and scales and stages have been established.

Grief is a very unique nature of loss. It is somewhat similar to that of losing a family member or experiencing another traumatic event. Grief is defined as “the effectiveness, physiological and psychological reactions to the loss of an emotionally important figure,” (Brier 452). There are different types of miscarriages that can occur: an ectopic pregnancy, stillbirths and neonatal deaths. Any of these miscarriages can be defined as a “natural termination of a pregnancy before the fetus is considered viable,” (Brier 453). Unfortunately, 15-20% of pregnancies end in miscarriages and of those, three-quarters of the pregnancies end before the twelve week gestation (Puddifoot and Johnson). This is a very traumatic event to happen to anyone and can cause many complications for the individual, physically and mentally. Some symptoms include: prolonged distress, excessive guilt, suicidal, worthlessness, rejected, socially withdrawn, sleep disturbance, negative self judgment and many others. Although grief consumes your mind and concentratio...

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