National Infant and Pregnancy Loss Awareness Month

Thirty-six and a half weeks pregnant.

That’s how far along I would be today if I were getting ready to welcome our sweet second baby into this world – almost full term. And as we near that due date that will never come, I can’t help but wonder exactly how our baby would have made his grand entrance into our home.

Yet, this month represents more than my would-have-been-full-term milestone; it is also National Infant and Pregnancy Loss Awareness Month.

Across the street, nation, and globe, there are so many precious little lives to be remembered. Some stats of these types of loss include:

“About 10% to 20% of known pregnancies end in miscarriage. But the actual number is likely higher,” shared the Mayo Clinic.
“Stillbirth affects about 1 in 175 births, and each year about 21,000 babies are stillborn in the United States. That is about the same as the number of babies that die during the first year of life,” reports the CDC.
“In 2023, 4.8 million children under 5 years of age died. This translates to 13,100 children under the age of 5 dying every day in 2023,” explained UNICEF.

These are babies that didn’t make it through the first trimester, infants delivered but never brought home, and little children who died from various reasons.

None of it makes sense.

How could a good God take away children so small?

I don’t know.

I don’t understand His will or His choices; I am not supposed to.

What I do know and trust is that His ways are higher and for the good of those who love Him.

A few weeks ago, amid my grief, I was reminded of this promise through my pastor’s Sunday morning message. He preached on Mark 10. Verses 13-15 say:

And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” Emphasis added.

I have always imagined this scene as being filled with little children walking up to Jesus. Maybe it was just the images in the storybook Bible I had growing up, but I imagined Jesus sitting at a tree with a bunch of toddling 2- to 5-year-old kids running around him.

However, verse 16 continues by saying,

And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

Our pastor began to explain that, in his opinion, the children in this passage weren’t just 5-year-olds. Instead, they were babies who needed to be held, which is why Jesus took them in His arms. He continued explaining that babies have to be entirely dependent on their father and mother, just as we, as followers of Jesus, should rely on Him.

As our pastor spoke, I couldn’t help but think of the baby I lost and the other moms I know who have lost their little ones, and I pictured Jesus holding them all in His arms.

For Bible-believing mamas, I think there is such peace in knowing that the God who made the universe is holding our babies in glory. Scripture says that heaven awaits these babies and little children, just like it awaits those who have trusted Him and are entirely dependent on Him.

What a great hope this is to know we will someday all be together again!

While we continue grieving the loss of our babies here on this earth, I believe that we can rest in the fact that the one on the throne has our babies in His arms.

This month, if you haven’t experienced a loss, I pray that you will reach out to the ones in your life who have and offer them a kind word. I can promise you that most moms and dads who have experienced these losses often think about who that sweet baby of theirs would have been.

To the parents who have suffered loss, I hope you know that the King of Kings loves you and your little one. As a matter of fact, I believe He is holding them in His arms as we speak – just like those He held when He walked the earth.

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
And saves those who are crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18).

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