Many people who go through as devastating an event as miscarriage or stillbirth feel alone in their sorrow, especially if they had not announced the pregnancy to others.
Overview: Our Top Picks
Fiction Books About Experiencing a Miscarriage or Stillbirth
- Baby Dust by Deanna Roy ($14.95)
- Ditch Flowers by Amanda Linsmeier
- What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty ($9.99)
- The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey ($11.11)
- Something Happened by Cathy Blanford and Phyllis Childers ($12.95)
- Fallen Grace by Mary Hooper ($3.01)
- To Linger on Hot Coals: Collected Poetic Works from Grieving Women Writers by Stephanie Paige Cole and Catherine Bayly ($11.99)
- The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman ($11.06)
Non-Fiction Books About Experiencing a Miscarriage or Stillbirth
- Finding the Rainbow by Rachel McGrath ($9.99)
- Empty Cradle, Broken Heart: Surviving the Death of Your Baby by Deborah L. Davis, Ph.D. ($27.95)
- Becoming by Michelle Obama ($10.99)
- Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande ($15.16)
- They Were Still Born: Personal Stories About Stillbirth edited by Amy L. Abbey ($34.35)
- Grieving the Child I Never Knew by Kathe Wunnenberg ($11.79)
- An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken ($12.79)
- Empty Arms: Hope and Support for Those Who Have Suffered a Miscarriage, Stillbirth, or Tubal Pregnancy by Pam Vredevelt ($15.00)
- It Starts With the Egg by Rebecca Fett ($17.95)
- Grieving Together: A Couple’s Journey through Miscarriage by Laura Kelly Fanucci and Franco David Fanucci ($14.97)
Jump ahead to these sections:
- Fiction Books About Experiencing a Miscarriage or Stillbirth
- Non-Fiction Books About Experiencing a Miscarriage or Stillbirth
Many resources can help you cope with your loss. The following list includes both fiction and nonfiction books about the experience. Some are personal accounts of loss, while others focus on the medical side of reproduction. We also included books that have characters who miscarry.
Let’s go through books about miscarriage and stillbirth that can provide comfort, helpful information, or both.
Fiction Books About Experiencing a Miscarriage or Stillbirth
While you may be searching for medical information regarding failed pregnancies, you may also find solace from reading about fictional accounts of losing a child. Here are some books that have characters who suffered a miscarriage or stillbirth.
1. Baby Dust by Deanna Roy
Although the title of this book may cause you alarm, the plot of this book is based on the real-life stories of women who have experienced a miscarriage or stillbirth.
The accounts help you realize how varied the grief experience may be from person to person. See if you connect with one of the characters when you read this novel.
2. Ditch Flowers by Amanda Linsmeier
Amanda Linsmeier’s heroine is a woman who has three miscarriages before moving to her husband’s childhood town.
Readers appreciate how the author is able to describe the emotional depths of despair the narrator experiences as a result of the deaths. The book also is about marriage and life in the Midwest.
3. What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
While the title character of What Alice Forgot does not experience a miscarriage, her sister does.
While it may be too difficult for you to read a novel that discusses miscarriage as a part of the primary plot, you may appreciate how this book touches on such tragedy with one of the secondary characters.
4. The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
This beautifully written novel is set in 1920s Alaska and has a unique mixture of both magic and realism. A hurting, childless couple make a snow child who seems to come to life.
Keep an open mind when reading this book. Even if you don’t often read books with magical themes, you will appreciate this unique story.
5. Something Happened by Cathy Blanford and Phyllis Childers
This children’s book is subtitled, “A Book for Children and Parents Who Have Experienced Pregnancy Loss.” This is a helpful resource for explaining the loss of a baby to a sibling.
It addresses common feelings the child may be experiencing, including sadness, fear, and guilt. It also discusses going on with life while always remembering the child who died.
6. Fallen Grace by Mary Hooper
The main character in this story not only experiences a stillbirth, but she does so while unmarried and living in Victorian England.
This fast-paced novel is recommended for people who love historical fiction.
7. To Linger on Hot Coals: Collected Poetic Works from Grieving Women Writers by Stephanie Paige Cole and Catherine Bayly
Both poets who contributed to this collection experienced the death of daughters at birth.
They write about the many emotions associated with grief, sometimes raw howls of anguish, and other times a quiet sadness that accompanies them wherever they go. Your grief may take away your ability to focus on a novel, but you may appreciate reading some poems about loss.
8. The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
We include this novel on the list, not because we recommend it as an appropriate book to read for someone who has had problems conceiving.
Instead, if you read as an escape from your daily life, you may want to avoid this novel. While the main character does suffer miscarriages and loss, her actions are not healthy ways to deal with her feelings.
Nonfiction Books About Experiencing a Miscarriage or Stillbirth
Some of the nonfiction books on our list are memoirs of women who have suffered the loss of a child and others are resources for families who have experienced this traumatic event. You may also be interested in this list of books written about grief.
9. Finding the Rainbow by Rachel McGrath
The author, Rachel McGrath, writes about her own difficult experiences with conceiving a child.
She describes this traumatic time in her life with brutal honesty, and you may connect with her story if you also have had problems with pregnancy.
10. Empty Cradle, Broken Heart: Surviving the Death of Your Baby by Deborah L. Davis, Ph.D.
This book is written by a doctor and covers miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant death.
It was first published in 1991, so some of the online resources that are available now aren’t mentioned, but she includes the always-relevant interviews from women who experienced these traumas.
11. Becoming by Michelle Obama
Former First Lady Michelle Obama tells her life story in this captivating memoir. She tells her readers about the guilt she felt when she miscarried a child.
While this is only a small portion of Obama’s story, you will appreciate her message regarding this traumatic part of her life.
12. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
Although this book isn’t explicitly about miscarriages, it does discuss Dr. Atul Gawande’s struggles with his profession.
As a surgeon, Gawande has a unique perspective on end-of-life issues. He’s also written The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right and Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance.
13. They Were Still Born: Personal Stories About Stillbirth edited by Amy L. Abbey
Read accounts from parents who experienced the trauma of a stillbirth. You’ll realize that you are not alone when you read these first-hand stories of families who leave the hospital empty-handed.
14. Grieving the Child I Never Knew: A Devotional for Comfort in the Loss of Your Unborn or Newly Born Child by Kathe Wunnenberg
The author of Grieving the Child I Never Knew had three miscarriages and lost an infant son.
She wrote these Christian devotionals to help other women grieve honestly and well The goal of her book is to help others “cultivate a healing journey.”
15. An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken
Many readers connect with this poignant memoir written by an author who lost her son in the ninth month of her pregnancy.
While it is a sad account of the loss of a child, readers appreciate Elizabeth McCracken’s message of hope. One reviewer described how the book included a mixture of grief, pain, love, and joy.
16. Empty Arms: Hope and Support for Those Who Have Suffered a Miscarriage, Stillbirth, or Tubal Pregnancy by Pam Vredevelt
The author of this book is a licensed personal counselor and a mother who has experienced a loss of a child.
It is written from a Christian perspective and offers hope and comfort for those who have suffered from these traumatic events.
17. It Starts with the Egg: How the Science of Egg Quality Can Help You Get Pregnant Naturally, Prevent Miscarriage, and Improve Your Odds in IVF by Rebecca Fett
The author of It Starts With the Egg has degrees in both molecular biotechnology and biochemistry.
Using her background, she has created a comprehensive program for improving egg quality in three months. If you are ready to try again to conceive, you may consider taking a look at this highly-rated book.
18. Grieving Together: A Couple’s Journey through Miscarriage by Laura Kelly Fanucci and Franco David Fanucci
Losing a child is hard on a marriage. This book is written by a married couple who has experienced the heartbreak of miscarriage. It is written from a Catholic perspective and talks about the marriage relationship after a difficult loss.
We All Grieve Differently
As you glance through our list of resources, please remember that we all grieve differently. Reading an account of someone who lost but was finally able to have children may not help those of you facing a life without children. We tried to include a list of books that talk about a wide variety of experiences, but if you can’t find one that speaks to you, keep trying!
You may also discover that reading about the experience does little to comfort you. Instead, you may be interested in learning about miscarriage keepsakes that you can purchase or create to remember the life cut short.