“My sweet baby … I am so grateful for my memory of seeing your little heart beating at that first ultrasound. I am so grateful for the time we had with you. You will always have a special place in my heart, and will never be forgotten. Love always little one, Mommy.”
– BabyLossandHealing.com
By Mary Owen
After she suffered the loss of her son, Susan Horn turned her own grief around by helping others resolve theirs.
Healing Memory Walk
Registration: 10 a.m.
Ceremony of Memories: 11 a.m.
Memory Walk: 11:45 a.m.
Jordan Bridge, Pioneer Park, Stayton
Participants are encouraged to bring
a sack lunch and join Susan Horn and
others following the event for a
relaxed picnic.
“When I lost my baby, I found myself searching for answers and information,” said Horn, who lives between Lyons and Mill City with her husband, John, and daughters, Sarah, 5, Ellen, 3, and Anna, 10 months, born after the August 2006 miscarriage of baby Max.
“I found a lot of stuff, but not all in one place,” she added. “I decided to create a Web site. My goal was to help others who have experienced the loss of a baby.”
Her Web site, BabyLossandHealing.com has helped other moms and dads, too. To further the cause, she will lead the first annual Baby Loss and Healing Memory Walk, an event she put together to help promote awareness of pregnancy and infant loss, and to “honor the memory of the sweet babies we have lost,” she said.
“The walk is free, and families, friends and anyone interested in offering support are welcome to attend,” she said.
Her interest in hosting a memory walk was sparked by a woman in Texas who worked to have resolutions passed to make October Baby Loss Awareness month.
“I felt this year I was in a place to put out more than I needed to take in, so I decided to do a walk,” Horn said. “A friend of mine, Betty Daley, is hosting a walk that same day at Sockman Lake Park in Fredericktown, Ohio. This is our first time doing this.”
To date, about 50 people have signed up for both walks, 20 in Stayton.
Horn said her advocacy helped her find purpose in her devastation. “I really had to work hard to get through it,” she said of her loss.
But with support from her midwife, family and friends, she poured her grief into healthier channels: taking care of her family and building her Web site.
Since its initiation, more than 2 million visitors have sought advice on the site, clicking on to information on types of loss, including miscarriage, ectopic or molar pregnancy, stillbirth and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The site has a forum community, live chat room, information pages and many links to related sites, including current blogs of women who have lost a baby and where to find books and other materials on the issue.
Horn sometimes relates on a more personal level to those who visit her site.
“Just the other day, I talked to a mom who had lost her baby at 3 months,” Horn said. “It’s nice to know I can listen and help somebody.
“And it’s important for people to be listened to, not told things like ‘you’ll get pregnant again soon.’ That does absolutely nothing to ease their pain,” she added.
Although she has gotten through the hardest part of her grief and no longer feels depressed over losing her unborn son, Horn admits, “I would do anything to hold my sweet baby in my arms, even if just for a moment.”
When not working on her baby loss site, or tending to family, Horn sells slings, wraps and other baby items via her online business, Sweet Pickles.
