LOS ANGELES: The Duchess of Sussex has described experiencing an “almost unbearable grief” after losing her second child in a miscarriage in July.
In a deeply personal article for the New York Times, Meghan wrote how she lost her unborn baby in July in California – a moment that left husband Harry holding the “shattered pieces” of her heart.
The duchess has been widely praised by charities for sending a “powerful message” to others who have lived through the same trauma by speaking about the issue. The 39-year-old wrote in the article by describing a “sharp cramp” she felt while looking after her son Archie.
“I dropped to the floor with him in my arms, humming a lullaby to keep us both calm, the cheerful tune a stark contrast to my sense that something was not right,” she wrote.
She added, “Hours later, I lay in a hospital bed, holding my husband’s hand. I felt the clamminess of his palm and kissed his knuckles, wet from both our tears. “Staring at the cold white walls, my eyes glazed over. I tried to imagine how we’d heal,” Meghan said.
The Duchess continued: “Losing a child means carrying almost unbearable grief, experienced by many but talked about by few. “In the pain of our loss, my husband and I discovered that in a room of 100 women, 10 to 20 of them will have suffered from a miscarriage.
“Yet despite the staggering commonality of this pain, the conversation remains taboo, riddled with (unwarranted) shame, and perpetuating a cycle of solitary mourning. Some have bravely shared their stories; they have opened the door, knowing that when one person speaks the truth, it gives license for all of us to do the same,” it added.
Other royal women have experienced the loss of an unborn baby, with the Countess of Wessex losing her first baby in December 2001 when she was airlifted to hospital after suffering a potentially life-threatening ectopic pregnancy.
The Queen’s granddaughter Zara Tindall suffered two miscarriages before having her second child and spoke in detail about her experience in a newspaper interview.
An estimated one in four pregnancies ends in a miscarriage, according to the charity Tommy’s, which funds research into miscarriages, stillbirths and premature births, with most women losing their babies during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
