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Hannah Stone has published her second book, Remembering Our Angels: Personal Stories of Healing from a Pregnancy
Loss. Order your copy now on Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Borders.com and Lulu.com!
Correction: On page 39, the title of Kathleen Gray and Anne Lassance's book was incorrect. The correct title is "Grieving
Reproductive Loss: The Healing Process." It was published by Baywood in 2003.
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Forever Our Angels by Hannah Stone. A compilation of stories told in the voice of mothers and fathers who are coping after
the loss of their child during pregnancy. These stories offer a glimpse into the realities of miscarriage and stillbirth,
and teach valuable lessons that can only be gleaned by hearing the heartfelt words of the parents who experienced such losses.
There are many truths that come to light when you face the loss of a loved one. Of those many truths, there are two things
that stand out as being universally experienced, yet completely opposite each other. First there is the fact that everyone
experiences grief after loss as an individual; no two people will grieve the same way. Yet, as separate and unique as each
of us will be in our grief, there is the rarest of comfort in learning from someone who has been there before that everything
you are feeling is normal. In her new book Forever Our Angels, Hannah Stone has shared the individual experiences of seventeen
mothers and fathers who have told the stories of their children who were lost during pregnancy. Ranging from very early first
trimester losses to late term stillbirths, these are real stories being told in the voices of the parents who have in common
the very raw and heart-wrenching loss of a child during pregnancy. These amazing stories touch upon the intimate feelings
and emotions that encompass the range of experiences of pregnancy loss. From the manner of the doctor or midwife in delivering
the bad news, to the crushing blow of not seeing, with their own eyes, the heartbeat during a routine prenatal ultrasound,
one realizes how the events surrounding pregnancy loss become imprinted on the minds of the parents. Reading these stories,
you see first hand how each parent will forever recall the kindness and warmth or the impersonal coldness that they were met
with during their loss experience. This book would be a valuable resource for Obstetrical doctors, nurses, and midwives who
might need to be reminded of the value in choosing their words carefully when treating parents whose baby has died in utero.
This book might also be a great comfort to anyone who has experienced pregnancy loss at any stage, as it validates the fullness
of feelings and emotions that so many bereaved parents face in seeming isolation. The very nature of pregnancy miscarriage
is that often it is an unseen, and therefore an unvalidated loss. Our modern culture does not have a protocol to publicly
acknowledge the enormity of it. Parents who experience miscarriage are frequently left isolated and ignored, because generally
this type of loss is deemed typical, common, and therefore should be easy to get over. After closing the covers of this book,
I hear the litany of names of each of these precious children echoing in my ears. I can feel the love and longing that each
of these parents has for their much wanted child who will never be born, and admire the courage it took for them to share
their stories of loss. These stories show that it simply does not matter how far along you are in your pregnancy; when you
experience a loss, you have lost your child.
Rowan Tree Foundation
"Remembering
Our Angels: Personal Stories Of Healing From A Pregnancy Loss" is a perfect title for Hannah Stone’s book. Each child
that was lost in this book was a little
angel. It just was not their time to take their place on this world just yet, for
whatever reason it may be.
The first few chapters were very informative, while the last chapters were tear jerkers.
Some entries were written by doctors that have experienced child loss on a personal basis or have had patients that have suffered
through the loss of a child. Other entries were written by mothers or fathers that have also experienced child loss. I found
a lot of information there that I had no idea even existed.
I did not know that there was a thing called a perinatal
grieving kit. It includes sometimes a plaster mold for the parents to have a little hand or footprint, a container for a lock
of hair, and a couple other little things to help remember the child instead of trying to forget what happened. The day a
parent loses a child is forever scared on their hearts, and nothing will ever make that day disappear.
In "Remembering
Our Angels," it tells of ways parents grieved in their own ways. Most have found Internet support groups, talked with other
parents that have had a loss, and have even found what works for them in order to help the grieving process. One thing that
touched me was a balloon release ceremony. It, in a way, is like sending a gift up to your child in my opinion.
Having
had a miscarriage of my own, this book brings to light a few things I’ve never thought of before. It is a great help
to any who have lost a child no matter the age even if it was only a couple of weeks along or at the end of the nine month
gestation period. If you or someone you know is hurting pick up a copy of "Remembering Our Angels," as well as Hannah Stone’s
other book "Forever Our Angels." It has a lot of information between the pages for helping to heal the heart. 5 Hearts
Crystal Adkins
www.bookreviewsbycrystal.blogspot.com
I have read
and reviewed two books written by Hannah Stone, "Forever Our Angels" and "Remembering Our Angels" and I feel that these companion
books should be added to everyone's list of resource reading for understanding and gaining support for the pain experienced
during child loss.
"Forever Our Angels" is a collection of personal stories told from the heart of fathers and mothers
who have experienced the pain we know all too well, the pain of losing a child through miscarriage. The stories are easy to
read, and you will relate in a way that makes the stories seem personal and will leave you feeling like you have a friend
who is walking this path with you.
"Remembering Our Angels" is a book that is written sincerely and has language that
every parent who has experienced loss will understand. The emotional ties, the physical pain, and the trauma of loss are all
dealt with in the stories. After reading this book you will never feel alone in your pain again.
Hannah Stone does
a beautiful job of writing in a way that helps a grieving parent know that this pain is real, but it is a pain that others
have felt and have gotten through, and so will you. You will have a better understanding of grief after reading these books,
and you will be left with a feeling of compassion for your grieving heart.
Clara Hinton
Author - Silent Grief
"Forever Our Angels" by Hannah
Stone is a collection of heart-felt and heart-wrenching stories from men and women alike that have all suffered child loss.
Whether it be from miscarriage or still birth, each loss is unexplainably hard to deal with. I personally don’t think
it can ever be just dealt with. That child will always hold a special place in your heart and there will be days when you
remember something about that day and hurt all over again.
Each story explains how the person felt
when they found out they were expecting, how they started to feel when something was not quite right, and the denial and guilt
when they were told the horrible news. “ I’m sorry, there is no heartbeat, your baby is dead.” Crushing
all hopes for some that it was not meant to be, and then for others that keep their hopes up of still conceiving in the future.
Miscarriage is more common than most think. 1 in 4 women suffer miscarriage early on; that saying
about making it past the 12th week is not always true. The women in this book lost the children at different times throughout
the pregnancy; some had to have D&C’s when it was still early enough and then others were faced with birthing their
dead child.
I am one of the one in four women that have had a miscarriage and I know
personally how hard it is once you’ve lost the little life growing inside of you that you yearn to snuggle with one
day. I had the support of my husband and family, but they could not really console me because it was me that had lost the
child. I wish I had found this book right after my miscarriage, I believe it would have helped ease the pain knowing that
others have experienced the same kind of loss.
Hannah Stone is also the author of "Remembering
Our Angels," another book on personal stores of healing from pregnancy loss. Ms. Stone’s novella was heart warming and
can bring a sense of peace to the reader that may have experienced this kind of overwhelming pain. If you are in need of coping
or needing to hear other stories to see that you’re not alone, then please pick up "Forever Our Angels." It will help.
Crystal Adkins
www.bookreviewsbycrystal.blogspot.com
Forever
Our Angels is a collection of raw stories from women
who have experienced pregnancy losses, and each story is unique. The book's emphasis is that miscarriages are NOT experiences
to hide or be ashamed of. Each one of these stories describes a much wanted pregnancy and emphasizes that what was lost is
worth grieving.
Readers will
feel the pain of these essays; and there are no real words to remove this pain. The author describes how friends and family
may try to comfort with ineffective and actually hurtful phrases that are meant with good intentions. Rather than saying such
things as, "At least you have other children," the author recommends that friends and family try to comfort those experiencing
these losses by saying, "I hope you are comforted by knowing I am sorry for you and I am thinking of you." Sometimes just
being there and providing a shoulder to cry on can be helpful.
American Society of
Reproductive Medicine
Both [of Hannah Stone's]
books were beautifully written and I felt that Hannah Stone had progressed after Forever our Angels, to finding
a much better way of writing about each stage of pregnancy loss; grief and the healing process with her second book Remembering
our Angels. Both books are honest and simply written and will have a big impact upon the reader from whatever walk
of life.
Forever our Angels
gives the reader a chance to read of others’ experience of pregnancy loss, showing just how common it is and letting
us know we are not alone. It is well written and easy to take your time over. Remembering our Angels is written
in much more depth and I think that this would be much more useful for healing and managing grief. I would recommend this
book of the two purely because it covers so much unspoken ground for every aspect of pregnancy loss.
Both books are very touching
and the way they are set out makes them very easy to read and understand. Both have introductions from medical staff –
one doctor in Forever our Angels to many more in Remembering our Angels. I enjoyed reading
the views of the professionals in the first chapter and felt comforted that it is now realised that validating the loss of
all babies at whatever stage in pregnancy they are lost, is so important in the healing process.
Remembering our
Angels felt like more of a journey for me; going through each stage of pregnancy loss and reading of how others coped
with the experience and the grief. I felt that the point of this book is that they are still having to cope often without
adequate support which is needed so much after losing a baby in pregnancy.
There are many good ideas
of how to cope after pregnancy loss and many have had very positive experiences from being part of a group or organisation,
both personally and in helping others. Both books give the message that this should not be a silent grief. As a volunteer
for The Miscarriage Association, I found both extremely useful. They motivated me to appreciate that support for men, women
and families experiencing this hidden grief was paramount, helping me to help them.
I feel that the author
was very brave to touch on a subject so hidden and ignored in so many ways and I do think that many others will gain strength
by reading the stories of loss and survival. It is important to understand that pregnancy loss is a part of our lives and
to grow from it.
Lisa Taylor-Dowle
The Miscarriage Association
July 07
"Forever Our
Angels" is a poignant anthology of heartfelt stories that will comfort and reassure other bereaved parents that they are not
alone in their grief."
Marty Tousley
APRN, BC, FT
Grief Counselor
www.griefhealing.com
FOREVER OUR
ANGELS by Hannah Stone is a recent addition to the support
literature for parents  who have experienced a perinatal death. With a professional foreword
by Dr. Goldman, outlining the features of crisis and mourning facing bereaved parents, the book is divided into Chapters,
each representing the chronicling of events, emotions and issues facing individual parents who have experienced a loss.
While
there are a number of books of personal accounts of perinatal loss on the market, I found this offering by Ms. Stone to be
particularly effective in outlining the complexity of events facing mourning parents. Written in a facile style with personal
essays regarding the whole chronology of each loss, FOREVER
OUR ANGELS presents in clear concise language the crisis
of the medical milieu during and following a loss, as well as the detailing of many emotions which parents are often unwilling
to discuss publicly.
I believe
this short but moving collection would be particularly effective both in the hospital and out, especially for mothers and
fathers who may be less likely or unable to pursue support-group options: the book will allow them to verify their own emotions
and experiences, allowing them to find common ground without pursuing discussion groups which for some are impossible because
of time, work or travel committments or for those parents who because of their 'style' of mourning may not feel comfortable
talking to strangers, even those who have experienced a similar loss. Hannah Stone's first foray into writing in this genre
is successful and helpful, bringing together her own experiences of loss as well as the caring eye of a writer.
Dr. Elizabeth Kirkley Best
Author of "Forgotten Grief"
"Ms. Stone and
others courageously offer a glimpse into what they suffered. They offer comfort by acknowledging that a child did exist. "Forever
Our Angels" is written simply and elegantly. It is with honor that I recommend this book to those who have suffered a loss
or those who know someone who has."
Debra Gaynor
"This
compact book approaches pregnancy loss from the perspectives of mothers and fathers who have experienced such a loss. The
author put this book together with the hope that these personal stories will show others who have experienced a miscarriage
that their grief is all right and they are not alone."
Cheryl
K. Smith
Managing
Editor
"Forever Our Angels" validates
the profound suffering of women who have experienced pregnancy loss. This validation is the first step towards healing."
Christiane Northrup, MD
Author of "Mother-Daughter Wisdom" (Bantam, 2005), "The Wisdom
of Menopause" (Bantam, 2001), and "Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom" (Bantam, 1998)
"This is a book
about pregnancy loss. Specifically, it includes about 17 non-fiction essays written as 1st-person accounts. Each of the essays
is written by a real person who has experienced a miscarriage. The book begins with an an introduction by a doctor of psychiatry,
as well as a preface by the author Hannah Stone.
Hannah's conviction that this is a neglected subject is clear, and
she herself describes three miscarriages that she experienced. The writers of the rest of the essays range in talent and skill,
and the end result has the emotional honesty of a support group, sharing and processing their losses. A few of them are so
touching and so honest they're unlike anything else I've ever read.
Take "Gwen" trying to find meaning from her lost
baby, Ellie: "Her short life gave me an invaluable lesson. I learned to not take anything for granted. We can say life is
a miracle, but I never fully comprehended what a gift it is until it was taken from me. I know Ellie is watching over us.
She is my children's guardian angel. And when we meet in heaven someday, I will finally get to hold her in my arms and tell
her how much I love her."
Or "Alan" discussing his personal loss as a husband: "The conventional wisdom is that men
do their grieving alone but for me, the opportunity to talk to others during the weeks following the loss was crucial. Many
people came to me and said things like, 'I know there's nothing that I can say except that we are thinking of you.' These
sentiments are what helped carry me through."
I feel like anything I would say at this point might trivialize these
essays, and I don't want to do that. Each person's heartache, loss, and honesty deserves more than that, and Hannah Stone
deserves praise for bringing this book to publication. It could not have been easy."
Stacey Cochran
Author of "Amber Page
and the Lost Coral Stone"
"As a mother
who lost 8 pregnancies before my sons were born, I found these stories to be most comforting, offering unique insights and
some that mirrored my own experience. The message is that we are not alone, that others share our loss, that they are deeply
sorry and thinking of us, offering their stories to help us handle our own."
Lenore Goldfarb
www.AskLenore.info
Forever Our Angels - A reminder that you're not alone
"What
really struck me about them was how they seemed like such real people. The stories are told without fancy words designed to
tug at your emotional heart strings. They are told by parents who are sharing how they felt and discussing what they have
gone through.
And that does give you something to relate to. You will probably recognize elements of your own experiences
in these writers' stories. It's helpful to know you're not alone. In the fullness of the detail recounted by these writers,
I almost wonder if this book is even better for the friends and relatives and doctors of women who miscarry than it is for
the women themselves. A reader would be hard pressed to get through it without acquiring a better understanding for the experience
of miscarriages."
Krissi Danielsson
Miscarriage Editor
www.bellaonline.com
"Hannah Stone's
"Forever Our Angels" is a touching collection of first hand accounts from both women and men who have suffered through the
heartache and loss of a miscarriage. It brought tears of comfort for me from my own personal loss, because it helped me understand
that other people were as confused and lost as I was during such a painful time. While this collection certainly will not
give grieving parents and answers or a cure, it does allow them to not feel alone.
The layout of the book is simple,
with large text (large enough for bleary eyes to read). The accounts are concise and to the point and low on technical terms.
"Forever Our Angels" is a good message to give when you don't know what to say. Death is never easy to deal with,
particularly when combined with the loss of potential and what might have been. Hannah Stone's collection wraps a blanket
of comfort around those grieving by allowing them to relate to the personal experiences of others."
Julie A. Dawson
“It is
a collection of stories from the heart that parents who go through the loss of a baby will relate too.”
Cathy Fritea
Author of Tiny Hands Change the World
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