In Today’s Issue:

🔗 The best resources I found this week
📖 Deep dive: Supporting Muslim Families After Miscarriage, Stillbirth, or Infant Death

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🔗 The Best Resources for Further Learning on Today’s Deep Dive

Pregnancy loss among Muslim women: A narrative review — This is the anchor piece for today’s deep dive and the best source for quotes on grief, faith, and coping. (National Library of Medicine)

Arab Muslims’ Perceptions of Perinatal Loss Care in the United States — A helpful companion study for understanding what bereaved Muslim families actually want from care in a U.S. hospital setting. (National Library of Medicine)

Islamic funeral rites for miscarriage and stillbirth — A practical reference for burial-related questions that nurses may need to navigate quickly and respectfully. (NBC.org)

📖 Deep Dive

Supporting Muslim Families After Miscarriage, Stillbirth, or Infant Death

Every family brings something unique into the room. Not just medically. Culturally. Spiritually. In how they understand what just happened.

This week I spent time in a 2024 narrative review looking at miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant death among Muslim women, and what stood out to me wasn’t how different their grief is. It was how much of their experience is shaped by meaning, faith, and community—and how often we aren’t prepared for that at the bedside.

Understanding the Foundation: How Islam Shapes the Experience of Loss

Before we talk about care, it helps to understand the framework many Muslim families are operating within.

Islam is built on a belief in one God (Allah), and a strong understanding that life events—birth, illness, and death—exist within divine will. Concepts like:

• Qadr (divine destiny) — the belief that all events are part of God’s decree

• Tawakkul (trust in God) — reliance on God during hardship

• Yaqeen (certainty/faith) — a deep conviction in God’s plan

These are not abstract ideas. They are often the language families use to process what just happened.

The review found that many women described their loss through this lens of divine will and acceptance. One participant shared:

This kind of statement can sometimes be misread as emotional distance. It’s often the opposite. It’s how meaning is built when something feels impossible to understand.

What the Research Shows About Their Experience

Across 13 studies and 284 participants, several themes showed up consistently.

1. Grief is Deep—and Often Quiet

Women described intense sadness, longing, disbelief, and fear. Some continued to hope the diagnosis was wrong even after being told there was no heartbeat.

Another described ongoing fear in future pregnancies:

Faith didn’t remove grief. It sat alongside it.

2. Social Pressure and Stigma Can Be Significant

This was one of the more surprising findings.

Some women reported being questioned, blamed, or even stigmatized after miscarriage or stillbirth. Others felt people expected them to “move on” quickly or explain why it happened.

One woman said:

So the hospital may be one of the only places where they feel emotionally safe and acknowledged for their loss.

3. Faith Practices Are Active, Not Passive

Prayer, Quran recitation, and ritual washing (wudhu) weren’t background details.

They were coping strategies.

One participant described:

For some families, these practices may feel as important as any clinical intervention in those first hours.

4. There Can Be Uncertainty Around Rituals After Death

The review also highlighted confusion around what should happen after a baby dies—especially depending on gestational age.

Some families weren’t sure:

• If burial was required

• What rituals were appropriate

• Whether they should take the baby

And in some cases, hospitals didn’t offer options or guidance.

That uncertainty can add another layer of distress right when families are already overwhelmed.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Create space for faith

Instead of trying to interpret what something means, just open the door:

• “Are there any religious practices you’d like us to know about as we care for your baby?”

• “Would you like time or space for prayer?”

• “Is there someone from your family or community you’d like us to call?”

That one question can shift the entire experience.

Don’t mistake acceptance language for lack of grief

If a mother says, “This was Allah’s will,” it can sound like closure.

It’s often not.

It can be a way of surviving the moment while still carrying deep pain underneath.

Slow things down more than you think you need to

Grief + shock + cultural expectations = information overload.

The study highlighted how easily patients forget or miss information in these moments.

Repeat gently. Offer again later. Write things down when possible.

Be mindful of who is in the room—and who should be

Family and community play a major role.

Ask who they want present before:

• Delivering updates

• Discussing next steps

• Moving forward with care decisions

Normalize options without pressure

Especially when there may be uncertainty around rituals.

Simple language works well here:

“Some families choose to…”
“Some families find it helpful to…”

You’re not directing. You’re making space.

Why This Matters

Zooming out for a second.

The global Muslim population is expected to reach over 2 billion people in the coming decades.

And what this review makes clear is that Muslim women often rely on faith, family, and community to navigate loss—but they still need clinical teams who understand how to support that, not work around it.

You don’t have to understand everything about a family’s faith to care for them well—but when you create space for what matters to them, you change how their grief begins.

Vote on today’s deep dive below and give additional feedback (it helps guide what we go deep on)

⭐️ It was extremely helpful and gave me new insight

👍 Helpful, mostly a good refresher

✅ I didn’t learn anything new, but it validated what I already do

😕 It missed the mark or I have feedback

👋 That’s a Wrap!

Before you go: Here are ways we can help your hospital

Education: Please share our newsletter with your co-workers. Our priority is empowering nurses with the tools to support patients with modern, evidence-based bereavement education.

Bereavement boxes: Our bereavement boxes were designed out of a need for a modern high quality solution for families suffering from miscarriage, stillborn, or infant death.

Reply to this email “Sample” to get a free sample sent to your hospital.

What we prioritize:

1. Tools for hospitals to create a bereavement experience for families to begin their grief journey

2. Educating nurses with modern bereavement standards and continuing education.

3. Helping hospitals build a foundation of trust and support, so bereaved families feel seen and cared for—now and in the years to come.

These boxes were born out of our own personal losses, including Jay’s (CEO) 15 years of experience working in labor and delivery as a CRNA and witnessing time and again how the hospital experience can profoundly shape a family’s grief journey, for better or for worse.

Until next week,

Trina and Jay
Co-founders of Forget Me Not