Mothers and families will celebrate the memories of babies who were stillborn or died due to miscarriage during a ceremony sponsored by the Athens Birth Circle on Sunday at Sells Park.
The Athens Birth Circle, which supports local pregnant and new parents, began honoring babies in 2010 when the Pregnancy & Infant Loss Memorial Bench was built in Sells Park.
Parents who have lost children are invited to attend and submit their children’s names and due dates or readings that resonate with them and their experience, said Molly Wales, executive director of the Athens Birth Circle.
“I have two girls, and in between them, I lost two pregnancies,” Wales said. “My older daughter came with me to the ceremony. … Now anytime we go there, she remembers the baby that we never had, and it offers her closure, and it helps her feel like she’s a part of it.”
The ceremony aims to comfort parents who have suffered this loss and to let them know they are not alone in their grief.
“To me, supporting the Birth Circle is a reminder of the benefits of living in a community that is inclusive of others,” said Athens City Councilman Kent Butler, D-1st Ward. “There’s value and importance in knowing that you’re not alone in experiencing grief and loss.”
In the past, the Athens Birth Circle had limited resources for parents who had lost babies because of miscarriage and stillbirth, Wales said. When a mother who had gone through the experience approached them with her need, Wales said they decided to change that.
“We have set up support groups, constructed a memorial bench, and we began hosting this ceremony,” Wales said. “One in three clinically diagnosed pregnancies ends in a loss, and our society doesn’t do a lot to support families who go through this.”
It is important to remember that people are normal in their grief and that they are not overreacting, Wales said. The ceremony is to comfort grieving parents and siblings, offering community-wide support and help to those families, she said.
“Everyone has their own story,” Wales said, “and everyone feels the absence of that life.”
cw105510@ohiou.edu
