For this week’s episode of So Glad You Asked with Dr. Ruta Nonacs and Allie Hales, we sit down with Jessica Zucker, PhD, author of I HAD A MISCARRIAGE and Normalize It and the creator of the #IHadAMiscarriage campaign.
The statistics surrounding miscarriage can sound reassuring on paper. Miscarriage is common, occurring in about 15–20% of recognized pregnancies, and having one miscarriage does not typically reduce a person’s chances of having a healthy pregnancy in the future. In fact, after a single miscarriage, the likelihood of conceiving again is about the same as for someone who has never experienced a loss.
But statistics rarely capture the emotional reality of miscarriage. For many women and families, miscarriage can feel devastating — the loss not only of a pregnancy, but also of hopes, plans, expectations, and a future they had already begun to imagine. Even when others describe miscarriage as “common,” the experience itself often feels intensely personal and profoundly isolating.
For this week’s episode of our podcast So Glad You Asked with Dr. Ruta Nonacs and Allie Hales, we sat down with Jessica Zucker, psychologist, women’s mental health expert, and author of I HAD A MISCARRIAGE and Normalize It. Through her work and her widely recognized #IHadAMiscarriage campaign, Jessica Zucker has helped create space for more open and honest conversations about pregnancy loss and the grief that can follow.
One of the important themes of this conversation is that there is no “right” way to respond to miscarriage. Everybody experiences loss differently. For some, a miscarriage may feel like a painful but manageable life event. For others, it can be emotionally overwhelming and deeply destabilizing. Grief after miscarriage can be immediate or delayed, intense or complicated, and it often exists alongside physical recovery and hormonal changes that can further affect emotional well-being.
In this episode, we talk about:
- How people can begin to move forward after pregnancy loss
- Why acknowledging grief matters
- How partners, friends, and family members can offer meaningful support
- What comments are helpful — and what can unintentionally make someone feel more isolated
- How miscarriage can affect future pregnancies and emotional health
- Why breaking the silence around miscarriage is so important
This conversation is compassionate, validating, and deeply honest. Whether you have personally experienced miscarriage or want to better support someone who has, this episode offers insight into the complicated emotions surrounding pregnancy loss and reminds listeners that they are not alone.
—Ruta Nonacs, MD PhD
