112. Finding Answers & Hope After Recurring Miscarriage with Allison Schaaf

Mar 11, 2021

Today I am talking with Allison Schaaf, founder of Miscarriage Hopedesk -- a resource for women who are experiencing recurring pregnancy loss. Allison walked through many miscarriages with no real clear answers as to why this was happening and today we are talking about that journey. We talk about adoption and IVF and pregnancy after so much loss -- I ask her “how did you not give up hope?” Her answers to that question were really helpful and I think her daily mantra will be helpful to you if you are considering pregnancy after loss or are currently pregnant after loss.

We talk about marriage amidst loss and after loss and I agreed wholeheartedly when she said “It isn’t talked about enough how difficult the fertility journey is on a marriage.” That’s why we’re here and we are talking about; because your marriage matters and we know how difficult it can be to navigate such an important relationship amidst pregnancy or infant loss. That’s why we created a free Date Night Idea Guide just for you. A resource to help you reconnect and give your hearts a break from the heavy and hard and intense moments of grief.  Head to themorning.com/marriage, to download 29 date night ideas that will help you connect with your spouse or partner even in the midst of grief.

During our time together Allison shares about what it looked like for her to advocate for herself and to find answers about why she was experiencing recurrent pregnancy loss. She gives a really practical tip for how to do that, to advocate for yourself, and even if you have not experienced recurrent pregnancy loss I think this tip will be really helpful for you and the way you interact with your doctors moving forward. And lastly as a registered dietician and chef Allison talks about the role food plays in our maternal health; her thoughts on this might surprise you and I think will offer you freedom in this area. 

I loved getting to talk with Allison about her journey and I am so grateful for the practical wisdom she offers in this interview -- to check out all the resources we chat about in this episode make sure to check out the show notes at themorning.com/episode112. I think it’s going to be really helpful to you.

QUESTIONS WE DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE

1. With each of your losses, there were different things that helped you in the grief that followed -- tell me about some of those things.
2. What would you say to a woman who has experienced or is experiencing recurrent loss?
3. Tell me about your decision to try to conceive again and again; how did you not give up hope? 
4. What did it look like for you to advocate for yourself? What steps did you take, medically speaking before you began trying to conceive again? What about throughout your pregnancies?  
   1. What about our mental health amidst grief?
   2. What advice would you give to someone who might be interested in learning more about how nutrition affects this journey?  
5. You are a registered dietician -- what role does food play in our maternal health? Did you make any changes to your diet amidst your motherhood journey?
6. Tell me about Miscarriage Hope Desk -- What is it? Why did you start it? What was your inspiration?
7. What encouragement would you give to another mom who has experienced recurrent miscarriage?

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SHOW NOTES
www.themorning.com/blog/episode112

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29 DATE NIGHT IDEAS
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