More than 35 volunteers for the Midwifery Education Club gathered last week to create more than 250 miscarriage care packages for Early Pregnancy Loss Association, a local non-profit.
The EPLA, founded in 2016 by Emily Carrington, provides support for women and families who have suffered a miscarriage.
With a kettle of tea kept warm in a corner of Waterman Residence’s living room, soft chatter and laughter filled the space. Some students moved through the kit assemby line and others leaned against couches and chairs, writing cards for mothers experiencing the tragedy of miscarriage.
“There is a need for things like this, because maybe people don’t talk about it as much, because it is a sensitive subject,” said sophomore Isabelle Murphy, who attended the event. “But I’m just remembering that all of these are going out to people who are really going through this.”
The cheerful, floral bags contained notebooks, tissues, lip balm, tea bags, and flower seed packets. Volunteers were invited to fill out brightly colored sympathy cards, as well.
“They are beautiful, nurturing, affirming cards that display sympathy for women who have gone through a loss,” said Molly Buccola, a junior and a member of the midwifery club. “Miscarriage is an unseen loss. There’s not a funeral so people can come help you grieve. The cards help a woman know she is seen and cared for. Her grief is valid.”
Since the care packages can be time-consuming to put together, the goal was to create as many as possible during the event’s scheduled time of 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
“In the past year, we’ve seen a significant increase in requests for miscarriage care kits,” said Carrington, founder and president of EPLA. “These kits can take a long time to assemble. This help from the midwifery club will help us meet that need. We are truly grateful they hosted this event.”
Sophia Berryhill, who founded the club, said she was pleasantly surprised by the turnout.
“I feel like everyone has a personal tie somewhere to miscarriage. It’s so important to bring it into the light and find community and solace in the fact that people are not alone if they go through this,” Berryhill said. “As much joy as there is in the birth experience, there can also be grief, sadness, and loss.”
The Midwifery Education Club’s mission is to share knowledge of midwifery and understanding of it as a viable option for women during pregnancy. Membership requirements include joining the email list, attending meetings, and promoting and participating in events.
“I see the work that midwives do as being so intrinsic to my identity as a woman,” Berryhill said. “We should be celebrating and talking about that more. We should be more open about having conversations about birth, the birth experience, and midwives.”
Club leaders hope to move away from negative stereotyping of midwifery and express the importance of a midwife’s role as a trained person seeking to care for the emotional and spiritual aspects of birth, as well as the physical.
Later in the semester, the club plans to host a discussion panel of mothers with varying birth experiences, as well as a panel of birth professionals including obstetricians, midwives, nurses, and doulas to share and answer questions about how they serve women in pregnancy and birth.
“The club made me realize I’m not the only one who thinks midwifery is awesome,” Buccola said. “It’s not a dying art. It’s a rising science.”