The duchess said she decided to share her experience to break taboos about the subject and to encourage people to check up on their loved ones, who may be going through trauma.
Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, has revealed that she had a miscarriage in July.
Markle, who is wife to Prince Harry, in a detailed opinion in the New York Times on Wednesday said that the incident happened on a July morning when she was looking after her first child, Archie, who is seventh in line to the British throne.
The duchess said she decided to share her experience to break taboos about the subject and to encourage people to check up on their loved ones, who may be going through trauma.
She said, “After changing his diaper, I felt a sharp cramp. I dropped to the floor with him in my arms, humming a lullaby to keep us both calm, the cheerful tune a stark contrast to my sense that something was not right.
“I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second.
“Hours later, I lay in a hospital bed, holding my husband’s hand. I felt the clamminess of his palm and kissed his knuckles, wet from both our tears. Staring at the cold white walls, my eyes glazed over. I tried to imagine how we’d heal.
“Losing a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief, experienced by many but talked about by few.
“In the pain of our loss, my husband and I discovered that in a room of 100 women, 10 to 20 of them will have suffered from miscarriage. Yet despite the staggering commonality of this pain, the conversation remains taboo, riddled with (unwarranted) shame, and perpetuating a cycle of solitary mourning.
“Some have bravely shared their stories; they have opened the door, knowing that when one person speaks truth, it gives license for all of us to do the same. We have learned that when people ask how any of us are doing, and when they really listen to the answer, with an open heart and mind, the load of grief often becomes lighter — for all of us. In being invited to share our pain, together we take the first steps toward healing.”