KALAMAZOO, Mich. — October marks Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month.
This week, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act to ensure stillbirth prevention initiatives can qualify for federal funding—one of several pieces of legislation aimed at improving maternal health.
In West Michigan, two moms who are all too familiar with the issue are coming together to help others through their grief.
“My husband and I had been trying for a baby for a really long time and we were so excited because we were finally pregnant,” Christine Webb told FOX 17. “We were expecting a baby boy.”
But their excitement turned into heartbreak when Christine lost her son Charles in 2021. She was 18 weeks pregnant.
“I gave birth and we got to hold him…It was sweet and tragic and awful,” Webb recalled. “We named him Charles Rex Webb and he is remembered fondly, but it was a really sad time for our family.”
Webb says support from her friends and family helped get her through this dark time. Especially with her dear friend Lauren Westerman by her side. Together they created the Committee for Better Perinatal Bereavement Care in West Michigan.
Webb recently gave birth to her rainbow baby, Ezra Rex.
“He’s six months old now and he is so sweet and we’re, we could not be happier or more grateful to have him here,” she said.
Kristen Biehl, the founder of Amos’ Anchors, has also experienced the heartache of losing a baby.
“There’s nothing more silencing than going through something that feels shameful. And, as a birthing person when you, when your body fails you, when your body fails to carry that baby to term…you feel like it’s your fault,” Biehl explained.
Biehl is a mother of three. She has miscarried several times and she too was 18 weeks pregnant when she lost her son Amos.
“You’ve lost the baby. You’re going to think of that baby every time it’s their birthday, every time it’s their due date, every time it’s Christmas and you’re not hanging up a stocking for them. First day of school is always really hard for me because you know that they’re missing,” she said.
Now, Biehl and Webb are coming together to help other women who are suffering.
“We want there to be awareness out there, which is why we’re doing this race so that people who felt like maybe they needed to suffer in silence know that they don’t have to, that they’re not alone,” Webb said.
The pair is hosting a 5K walk and run for Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month to honor and celebrate the lives of the babies who did not make it.
It’s on October 14 at Spring Valley Park in Kalamazoo.
All proceeds will go to nonprofit organizations that support moms who have experienced this great loss, including the Southwest Michigan chapter of the Star Legacy Foundation, Mira Bears and Amos’ Anchors.
“I started a nonprofit in his name to help support families during miscarriage, stillbirth and infant loss,” Biehl explained. “When you lose a child, that grief is with you forever.”
The Baby Steps 5k Run and Walk will take place on Saturday, October 14 at Spring Valley Park in Kalamazoo.
Click here if you’re interested in signing up or donating.
Other resources available for women struggling with pregnancy or infant loss include The Cooper Project, Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep and more from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
