Quotes

Woman holding a pregnant belly in bed (black and white photo)
Shutterstock
29 Meaningful Quotes For National Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day

Words to express your grief.

by Romper Staff
Updated: 
Originally Published: 

Every loss in our lives is a painful one, but suffering a miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant loss is a special kind of heartache. Mere words alone can't ease that pain, but reading or sharing a quote for National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day can help a grieving parent feel supported and just a little less alone during an overwhelming and emotional time.

When is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance day?

In 1988, President Reagan designated the month of October as a time to acknowledge pregnancy and infant loss. It wasn't until 2006 that Congress declared October 15 National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, the result of a years-long petition campaign by a group of mothers. The day is a time to honor and grieve all forms of pregnancy and infant loss: miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS, and death due to medical conditions, illness, accidents or violence.

Observing National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

Even in our current social-media society, where oversharing is the norm, it can be difficult for women to open up about their pregnancy losses, or to reveal the depth of their grief over losing a baby. It's still a subject we tiptoe around, and that's understandable. It's highly personal. It's awkward. It's so incomprehensible — why should a life be taken so young? — as to be beyond words. Yet being able to openly recognize and mourn the loss can help in the healing.

Below are a few of the many meaningful quotes on pregnancy and infant loss that can be shared either on social media or with a family member or friend who is going through her own personal agony. They all recognize the pain and questioning, rather than offering well-meaning platitudes that don't really help (like "God must have had a reason" or "You can try again"). Take it from someone who's been there: Just acknowledging that there's a day devoted to the unique grief of pregnancy and infant loss can go a long way toward helping moms feel less alone.

Quotes about losing a baby and grief

  • “My heart breaks for all the moments we will never share together. My arms ache for the cuddles we will never have. My soul longs for its forever missing piece.” — Sara Millen
  • “Before I carried the pain, I carried you. And in my heart, I carry you still.” — Unknown
  • “Grief, I’ve learned, is love. It’s all the love you want to give but cannot give. The more you loved someone, the more you grieve.” — Jamie Anderson
  • “On this darkest of days, we will grieve, we will cry our eyes out. But we will hug and love each other harder and get through it.” — Chrissy Teigen
  • "I guess love wasn't enough for us to survive. I swear, I swear, I swear I tried. You took the life right out of me. I'm so unlucky. I can't breathe. You took the life right out of me. I'm longing for your heartbeat, heartbeat." — Beyoncé
  • "At sunset, the little soul that had come with the dawning went away, leaving heartbreak behind with it." - L.M. Montgomery
  • "[It] took us to a place that was really dark and difficult." — Mariah Carey
  • "To lose a child is to lose a piece of yourself." — Dr. Burton Grebin
  • "I never got to hear you cry. I never saw your beautiful eyes. I never touched your soft skin. I never saw your feet kick. But you are my angel. And you will forever be missed." — Unknown
  • "I would have given my last breath just to see you take your first." — Unknown
  • "Somebody said it was all for the best, that something was probably wrong. Somebody said it was meant to be. Different verse, same miserable song." — Unknown
  • “When we lose our children, we don’t just lose them at the stage they were at. We lose them at every stage we missed, and our hearts will forever ache with that knowledge.” — L Behrndt

Quotes about remembering your baby

  • “Sometimes even the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” — A.A. Milne
  • “Before I carried the pain, I carried you. And in my heart, I carry you still.” — Unknown
  • “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, nor touched, but are felt in the heart.” — Helen Keller
  • “A mother is never defined by the number of children you can see but by the love she holds in her heart.” — Franchesca Cox
  • “Heaven and Earth may separate us today, but nothing will ever change the fact that you made me a mom.” — Unknown
  • “When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.” — Sophia Loren
  • “In the garden of memory, in the palace of dreams... that is where you and I shall meet” — Alice Through the Looking Glass
  • "When a child is born, it is the mother's instinct to protect the baby. When a child dies, it is the mother's instinct to protect the memory." — Unknown
  • "Even those that never fully blossom bring beauty into the world." — Unknown
  • "Some of us are mommies of children, some of us are mommies of angels, and some of us are mommies of both. We are all mommies." — Alycia de Lucio
  • "We remember: the babies born sleeping, those we carried but never held, those we held but could not take home, those who came home but could not stay." — Unknown
  • "I will not stay silent so you can stay comfortable. I will speak my child's name until I can no longer speak." — Unknown
  • "Some say you are too painful to remember. I say you are too precious to forget." — Unknown
  • "A life need not be long to be meaningful." — Unknown
  • "We talk about them, not because we're stuck or because we haven't moved on, but we talk about them because we are theirs, and they are ours, and no passage of time can change that." — Unknown
  • “I’ll be your legacy/I’ll be your voice/You live on in me/So I’ve made the choice/To honor your life/By living again/I love you/I miss you/I’ll see you again.” — Alan Pederson, Grief and Beyond
  • “They avoid speaking of your child to keep from upsetting you. They do not realize that no one ever speaking of them is your biggest fear.” — Unknown

This article was originally published on