Emma Hansen is an author and model whose blog post about the passing of her first son, Reid, due to a true knot in his umbilical cord, went viral in 2015. Her debut memoir Still: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Motherhood and contributor essay in Arrival Stories expand on her experience.
On the day before her first child, Reid, is due to be born, Emma Hansen wakes up and knows right away that something is wrong. Doctors confirm her worst fears: her baby has died, and she will have to deliver him, still. From the depths of sorrow, she emerges into a kind of motherhood she never anticipated, where grief and confusion intertwine with an enduring love for her son and the desire to ensure he isn’t forgotten.
In Still, Hansen opens up about an experience shared by millions of families yet rarely talked about. As she details the unique heartbreak of mourning a child who never took his first breath, and the delicate balance of hope, fear, and happiness when she brings her second son into the world, she confronts both our societal discomfort with grief and her own struggle to embrace life in all its uncertainty.
Strikingly honest, uplifting, and told with grace and sensitivity, Still is the story of one woman’s search for meaning in the face of one of life’s greatest challenges.
Published by Greystone Books
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Emma is a contributor in this anthology of essays about entering motherhood published by The Dial Press, an imprint of Random House. Her work, titled The Space Between Life and Death, highlights that stillbirth stories are still birth stories and need to be included in places where conversations about parenthood are being had.
By sharing our stories, we forge a path toward more open and honest communication about the experience of becoming a mother. This book will also shine a light on the grave injustices that women of color face in maternal healthcare and proceeds will help to support Every Mother Counts, which works to make pregnancy and childbirth safe, respectful, and equitable for every mother, everywhere.
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