JourneyOnline
Mostly for Mothers,
2011,
RRP $24.95
Reviewed by Rev Jennifer Roberts, minister with South Rockhampton Uniting Church.
IN her book, The Sound of Silence: Journeys through miscarriage, Irma Gold shares the painful and traumatic stories of 22 women and their journey through pregnancy loss.
Written in their own words, each story is one woman’s personal and raw account of her experience, feelings, thoughts, physical suffering, along with accounts of other people’s responses to her plight – both helpful and unhelpful.
This book is by no means easy or pleasant reading – it is a no holds barred emotional and very real account of what
women and their partners suffer when a pregnancy is lost.
Ms Gold’s book lifts the cone of silence that surrounds miscarriage and allows the voices and stories of these women to resound a clear message that pregnancy loss and miscarriage are not taboo topics that should only ever be spoken about in hushed whispers behind closed doors.
Rather, The Sound of Silence highlights the need for both the pregnancy and the lost child to be recognised and forsupport to be offered as parents grieve not only the loss of their child but the loss of the hopes and dreams that were associated with their baby.
Having suffered multiple mid-term pregnancy losses along with the subsequent avoidance and/or dismissal that many people convey toward the subject, I believe Ms Gold’s book to be a timely presentation.
It provides a solid voice on this subject, along with food for thought for the church as it considers how it might better support and care for parents moving through the difficult, painful, and often confusing journey of pregnancy loss.
The Sound of Silence should live on the bookcases of ministers, churches, chaplains and other caregivers, waiting to be placed into the hands of a woman who needs to know that she is not alone, that there is indeed a sisterhood of women who offer support (even if only in spirit); that her doubts, insecurities, fear and anxiety are normal and will improve over time; and that there are support groups that offer a listening ear.
