Empty Cradle, Broken Heart: Surviving the Death of Your Baby

Grieving the death of a baby is a heart-wrenching journey. Whether your baby died during pregnancy, around birth, or in infancy, Empty Cradle, Broken Heart is a gentle guide that will accompany you. Full of information and practical suggestions, this book can help you 
 

• accept the variety and depth of your emotions;  
   
• find answers to questions such as “What’s normal?” and “Why me?”; 
   
• make sense of your grief and mourning;  
   
• cultivate mutual understanding with your partner; 
   
• tap into sources of support; and  
   
• adopt mindfulness-based coping strategies that can help you heal your heart. 
   

 
Most importantly, you’ll be comforted by the words of dozens of bereaved parents. By hearing from mothers and fathers who have walked this path, you can establish realistic expectations for grieving, find reassurance, and truly understand that you are not alone. 
 
This fourth edition has been completely revised and updated, with new information on the neuroscience of this experience plus other insights including 
 

• how your brain encodes your bond with your baby as everlasting; 
   
• grieving explained in terms of your brain redrawing its neural map;  
   
• how your brain tries to settle the dispute between your baby being gone, but also everlasting; 
   
• the various experiences of being in survival mode and thriving mode around your baby’s life and death;  
   
• how your brain processes and heals from traumatic bereavement; 
   
• the pitfalls and benefits of rumination;  
   
• the relationship skill of repair; and 
   
• reducing your distress with mindfulness practices and informal rituals.  
   

  
“When my tiny baby died during my pregnancy, I was plunged into a grief I did not understand, one that threatened to swallow me whole. Empty Cradle, Broken Heart was a lifeline. Now, a decade after I sat fresh in my grief, scribbling notes and dog-earing pages, Davis releases this latest edition. New stories join with the old, a chorus of bereaved parents’ voices rising strong. Davis matches their timbre with knowledge that is equal parts comforting and empowering. And while this latest edition reflects the modern evolution in how we collectively and inclusively approach pregnancy loss, Davis's words also hold firm what has been and what always will be true: we grieve better when we grieve together.”
 
—Rachel Lewis, author of Unexpecting: Real Talk on Pregnancy Loss  
 
“Empty Cradle, Broken Heart offers compassionate support for bereaved parents in the aftermath of the unimaginable heartbreak that is perinatal loss. This comprehensive resource helps grieving parents navigate complex emotions while also offering practical tools for honoring their grief.”    
 
—Jessica Zucker, PhD, psychologist and author of the award-winning book I Had a Miscarriage: A Memoir, a Movement