Still Here: Miscarriage and the Ontology of the Silent Cradle

Abstract

This hermeneutic phenomenology explicates the experience of miscarriage through prose and the poetry that emerged from research conversations with nine women. The Baby Has a Name articulates the physicality and relational presence of the fetus and Painful Reminders the pain as the womb turns inside out. What Did I Do expresses the struggle to explain what is often unexplainable and Claiming the Loss the difficult acknowledgment of loss marked by inherent ambiguity and social asphyxiation. Others who have miscarried (The Invisible Network) offer comfort but the relationship with their baby can only be fully carried by these women (Still Here).