Andrea West met her prospective husband during their last year at university. They fell into a whirlwind romance and moved back to Andreas’ hometown soon after graduating.
In a few short years they had gotten engaged, and soon enough were able to announce to friends and family that Andrea had fallen pregnant with their first child. Andrea was overjoyed.
After just eleven weeks, however, the happiness turned to grief. Andrea miscarried.
This is how Andrea described the feeling on Facebook page Love What Matters:
“I was an absolute wreck. I didn’t know what to do, who to talk to, what was appropriate to discuss, or who could help me. Little did I know that 1 in 4 women suffer the same and people just don’t talk about it. I didn’t know if I could ever deal with being pregnant again.”
After a while, Andrea’s anxiety was lessened with the help of her supportive husband. Thankfully, she fell pregnant again.
This time around, she promised she would do everything in her power to help her baby grow healthily. She gave up a number of foods, including cold-cut meats, sushi and certain cheeses. She also took to devouring books on pregnancy – this time, she determined, everything would be OK.
Sure enough, her term passed without complications. She began small contractions right on time, went into hospital and was admitted into a delivery room with her partner.
