Ep194 – Cervical Insufficiency, Stillbirth, and Bedrest with Dorienna Alfred

Have you heard of Cervical Insufficiency?

Cervical insufficiency is painless opening of the cervix that results in delivery of the baby during the 2nd trimester of pregnancy. Connective tissue disorders that are present at birth and injuries can make tissues of the cervix weak. When the cervix is weak, the baby may be delivered too early.

Today’s guest experienced a stillbirth at 19 weeks due to cervical insufficiency and a birth defect.  Dorienna Alfred’s first pregnancy ended in an early miscarriage and since miscarriage is so common she did not anticipate any difficulties moving forward with her journey to motherhood.  Her second pregnancy was a stillbirth at 19 weeks and in working with maternal fetal health specialists, getting an autopsy, they learned that their son Joshua had a birth defect and she had cervical insufficiency. Dorienna went on to have two subsequent pregnancies where she was placed on bed rest for the majority of the pregnancy and during her third pregnancy was on bed rest in the hospital for 14 weeks.

In this episode, Dorienna shares how her rainbow baby pregnancies inspired her to write a book dedicated to experience, how she even as a psychologist did not understand birth trauma of what she experienced, and how her new practice as a therapist focuses on perinatal mental health.

This episode is for you to listen to if you have experienced a stillbirth, birth trauma or cervical insufficiency.  This episode is for you to listen to if you are a therapist and experienced miscarriage or infant loss.

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