TW: this episode talks about miscarriage and pregnancy loss. Skip it if today isn't the day. It will be here.
Released on Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day 15 October 2026, this episode is for anyone who has lost a pregnancy or a baby while living in the Netherlands, and for anyone supporting someone who has.
Melissa, an American living in Rotterdam, went through three pregnancy losses in the Dutch system before having her two children. She talks honestly about a missed miscarriage at her first midwife (verloskundige) appointment, deciding between medical management and a D&C (curettage), a second loss alone during Covid, a termination for medical reasons, and a near-sepsis emergency at Erasmus MC.
We cover:
What to say (and not say) to a friend after a miscarriage
Sibyl, the app Melissa built for pregnancy loss support
Sibyl is a private companion app for pregnancy loss, built from lived experience with gynaecologists, fertility specialists and a reproductive mental health psychologist. It's for any kind of loss, from failed fertility treatment to stillbirth, whether it happened yesterday or months ago.
OFFER: One month free with code DAM2026
Website: https://www.sibyl.care
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6787125952
Instagram: @sibyl_app
Support in the Netherlands: your huisarts (GP) or verloskundige can refer you to a psychologist, including English-speaking ones.
If you're here for someone else, send this to them, or just message them that you're thinking of them.
Get DAM Parenting in your inbox once a month: SUBSCRIBE HERE
Follow: @damparentingpodcast · damparenting.nl
DAM Parenting is an English-language podcast for international and expat parents in the Netherlands. We arrived without a village, but we built one anyway. The village is for the hard days too.
