When a woman suffers a miscarriage or infant loss, she usually has access to support groups, products and other resources to help her cope with the grief. But the same can’t always be said for her partner.
In honor of Father’s Day, she created a T-shirt to acknowledge a dad’s loss and celebrate the piece of joy many parents find in the aftermath ― a rainbow baby.
A rainbow baby is a child born after a miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death or infant loss. Huntpalmer’s shirt features a rainbow and the words “rainbow dad.”
“As the host of a birth stories podcast, I hear stories of loss regularly, but I also know that in the mainstream world of all things baby, pregnancy and infant loss aren’t as widely discussed,” Huntpalmer told HuffPost.
“One question I always ask my guests is, ‘What types of resources were most helpful to you during your journey?’” she explained. “They always tell me about how helpful the pregnancy loss community was to them, whether it was a Facebook group, a local support group or a hashtag on Instagram; they want to feel like they aren’t alone. And while there are so many ways for moms to find support, dads are often left out.”
Huntpalmer has two kids, ages 3 and 5, and recently suffered a miscarriage. She said she first got to know the pregnancy and infant loss community when her best friend lost her baby at 34 weeks pregnant.
“I found that it was always the moms that were finding ways to share their child with the world, whether through wearing a necklace with the baby’s footprints or wearing a “rainbow mama” shirt, but there’s not a lot out their for men,” she said.
Huntpalmer thought having a…
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