Jana Wells is a 40 year mother of three daughters who challenge her everyday and lives every minute. She is a clergy partner, as she puts it, “we were both called.” Jana has experienced two miscarriages and her pregnancies were all rough. She is a homeschool mom and volunteers her time with her church choir and with the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church as a youth leader.

in this episode she shares of her multiple pregnancies and two experiences with miscarriage.

Chainie Jackson is a primary school teacher who resides in Northhamtonshire, England. She is married to Jake and is a mother to angel baby, Tobias. In this episode, she shares her story of pregnancy, delivery, and the passing of her beautiful baby boy.

Rev. Sarah Swandell is a writer, songwriter, and new mom. She was ordained an elder in the United Methodist Church in 2017. Find her at sarahswandell.com. Sarah and her husband, Jordan, lost their first child to miscarriage. They are parents to a child in heaven, as well as a little girl on earth.

Stephanie Eaton is a speech-language pathologist who is currently a stay-at-home mom and obsessive sanitizer for her 23 week gestation surviving twin Ryan. Stephanie and her husband, Jason, hope to help others through sharing the story of their beloved son and Ryan’s guardian angel, Andrew.

Erin is the founder and leader of REALNation, a virtual fitness community designed to help women care for and strengthen their bodies, so they can do the things they love for and with the people they love. In addition to being fitness coach and influencer, Erin is an ordained clergy person in the United Methodist Church, a part-time professional grant writing and fundraising consultant, and a full-time caregiver for her small children. Erin holds a B.A. in Political Science and a Master of Divinity degree from Duke University. She currently resides in New York City with her daughter, Ella, her British/South African math professor husband, Henri, and (as of this recording) a little girl who is about 19 weeks old in the womb.

In this episode, Rev. Anne Kesner explores Stages of Grief as evidenced by Elizabeth Kubler Ross. Anne will discuss ways these stages impact parents experiencing pregnancy and infant loss both immediately and long term.

Anne West Kesner lives in Chesapeake, Virginia with her husband of 9 years and her 3 year old son. She completed her Board Certification as a Chaplain in 2014 and her certification in Thanatology in 2017.

Anne completed her Master’s degree specializing in Pastoral Care and Counseling at Princeton Seminary in Princeton, NJ. She works at the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters in Norfolk, VA for 7 years as a Chaplain. She now holds the role of Family/Staff Support Coordinator where she works on promoting self-care research, resiliency training, and moral distress support to physicians and staff, including offering bereavement services to families and staff. She also is the Chaplain for the Pain and Palliative Care team at the hospital where she, along with this team, provide a whole person/family system care of patients with pain, multiple medical issues, and end of life care.

In this episode our host, Rev. Joy Van Staalduinen, shares her story of loss and what led her to start this show.

Trigger warning: Miscarriage, D&C, pregnancy loss, postpartum depression