130+ Pregnancy & Baby Loss Quotes For Comfort and Healing

Download Article

Therapist Rebecca Tenzer, MA, LCSW, CCTP, CGCS shares comforting words you can use for someone grieving a baby

Co-authored by Moira Khan and Jennifer Vasquez, BA, MA

Last Updated: March 31, 2026 Fact Checked

Download Article

• Quotes About Miscarriage
|
• Stillbirth & Infant Loss
|
• Grief
|
• Fertility Struggles
|
• Quotes For a Memorial
|
• Sympathy Quotes
|
• Poems
|
• What Not to Say
|
• Other Ways to Show Support

|Show more |Show less

Losing a baby is a devastating experience for any parent. Going through a miscarriage or having a stillbirth brings immense pain that can be difficult to move past. While healing takes time, there are words of comfort to get through the grieving process. The following list includes a list of quotes dealing with miscarriage, grieving, and memorializing a baby. And, we include condolence messages if you know someone who’s experiencing the loss of a baby. Therapists and grief counseling experts also partnered with wikiHow to share advice on how to heal during this sensitive time.

Top Quotes About Baby Loss

Therapist Rebecca Tenzer, MA, LCSW, CCTP, CGCS recommends choosing quotes that are rooted in compassion, support, presence, and care. Good quotes to consider include:

• “You never arrived in my arms, but you will never leave my heart.” – Zoe Clark-Coates
• “Before I carried the pain, I carried you. And in my heart, I still do.” – Unknown
• “The strongest person in the world is a grieving mother that wakes up and keeps going every day.” – Unknown
• “Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give but cannot.” – Jamie Anderson
• “An angel in the book of life wrote down my baby’s birth. Then whispered as she closed the book, ‘Too beautiful for earth.’” – Unknown

Steps

Section 1 of 10:

Quotes About Miscarriage

Download Article

1. 
   Grief coach and educator Moira Khan describes the immense pain of miscarriage, saying, “miscarriage is such a sensitive one. It's equally as important as every other grief. It would still be the same loss, it's still the same heartache, it's still the same pain. And no one should take that away from any mother to be or expectant mother.” The following quotes express the heartache felt after a pregnancy loss:

   • “A miscarriage is not a failure, because a failure implies that it’s something you can control. Miscarriages are beyond our control.” -Dr. Simone Whitmore
   • “I learned that all pain and loss is in fact a gift. Having miscarriages taught me that I had to mother myself before I could be a mother to someone else.” -Beyoncé
   • “Losing a pregnancy is like losing a part of oneself that will never be made whole again.” -Unknown
   • “What does a miscarriage feel like? It feels as if you have been short-changed by nature. You will cry for what might have been, but nobody will understand because they didn’t feel it.” -Unknown
   • “Do not muffle your cries, for they are the sound of pregnancy loss.” -Unknown
   • “Even those that never fully blossom bring beauty into the world.” -Unknown
   • “You never arrived in my arms, but you will never leave my heart.” -Zoe Clark-Coates
   • “Before I carried the pain, I carried you. And in my heart, I still do.” -Unknown
   • “Your absence has gone through me like thread through a needle. Everything I do is stitched with its color.” -W.S. Merwin
   • “We may have been only one heartbeat apart, but I will love you for a lifetime.” -Unknown
   • “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” -Maya Angelou
   • “You will always be my favorite ‘what if.'” -Unknown
   • “You were carried for only a moment, but are loved for a lifetime.” -Unknown
   • “There’s a unique pain that comes from preparing a place in your heart for a child who never comes.” -David Platt
   • “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, or touched, but are felt in the heart.” -Helen Keller
   • “I never heard you, but I hear you. I never held you, but I feel you. I never knew you, but I love you.” -Unknown
   • “I will always wonder who you would have been.” -Unknown
   • “When you carry a life and it’s there, and then gone, a part of your soul dies. Forever.” -Casey Wiegano
   • “It is of some comfort that the last sound you heard was the beating of my heart.” -Unknown

   Meet the wikiHow Experts

   Rebecca Tenzer, MA, LCSW, CCTP, CGCS is a therapist with over 18 years of clinical and educational experience in the field of mental health.

   Cole Imperi is a grief counselor who’s on a mission to help people cope with death and grief.

   Moira Khan is a grief coach and educator who founded the organization GriefSpan to help individuals deal with loss and find resilience.

   Moshe Ratson, MFT, PCC, is a marriage and family therapist who helps his clients become stronger and more adaptable.
Advertisement

Section 2 of 10:

Quotes About Stillbirth & Infant Loss

Download Article

1. 
   Stillbirth and infant loss take a painful toll on parents. To see your child come into this world lifeless or be taken away so early is devastating. Tenzer says, “Grief is a deeply personal journey and the truth is there are no perfect words when someone has lost a baby or anyone close to them. It often depends on where they are in their process and how open they are to receiving messages. What kind of message you sent really depends on where they are.” The following quotes attempt to capture the depth of that pain:

   • “I held you every second of your life.” -Stephanie Paige Cole
   • “There is no foot too small that it cannot leave an imprint on this world.” -Unknown
   • “The pain of losing a child is a grief that whispers into every corner of your life.” –Elizabeth Edwards
   • “To lose a child is to lose a piece of your soul.” -Dr. Burton Grebin
   • “She/he was born silently into this world, but their little life spoke volumes.”-Unknown
   • “How very quietly you tiptoed into our world, silently, only a moment you stayed. But what an imprint your footprints have left upon our hearts.” -Dorothy Ferguson
   • “When a baby is born, it is the mother’s instinct to protect the baby. When a baby dies, it is the mother’s instinct to protect their memory.” -Unknown
   • “Losing a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief, experienced by many but talked about by few.” -Meghan Markle
   • “A wife who loses a husband is called a widow. A husband who loses a wife is called a widower. A child who loses his parents is called an orphan. There is no word for a parent who loses a child. That’s how awful the loss is.” -Jay Neugeboren, An Orphan’s Tale
   • “A life may last just for a moment, but memory can make that moment last forever.” -Unknown
   • “Those we have held in our arms for a little while, we hold in our hearts forever.” -Unknown
   • “A father may not carry his child in his arms for long, but he will carry their memory in his heart forever.” -Unknown
   • “We loved you from the very start, you were our dream, our joy, our heart.” -Unknown
   • “Your wings were ready, but my heart was not.” -Unknown
   • “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” -Dr. Seuss, Horton Hears a Who
   • “At sunset, the little soul that had come with the dawning went away, leaving heartbreak behind it.” -L.M. Montgomery, Anne’s House of Dreams
   • “A mother is never defined by the number of children you can see, but by the love that she holds in her heart.” -Franchesca Cox
   • “Blaming the woman for the loss of a child is like blaming the soldier for the loss of his life in battle.” -Katherine Longshore, Brazen
   • “You’re never really ready to be told that there’s no heartbeat. But stay strong because life goes on and it is nobody’s fault.” -Elisabeth Canalis
   • “No one will ever know the strength of my love for you. You’re the only one who knew my heart from the inside.” -Unknown
   • “Some of us are mommies of children, some of us are mommies of angels, and some of us are mommies of both. We are all mommies.” -Alycia de Lucio
   • “A flower bloomed already wilting. Beginning its life with an early ending.” -RJ Gonzales, Mundahlia
   • “There is not a single day that I haven’t thought about my baby in heaven.” -Unknown
   • “Most women say there is no greater pain than to bear a child. I say there is no greater pain than to bury one.” -Unknown
   • “There’s no tragedy in life like the death of a child. Things never get back to the way they were.” -Dwight D. Eisenhower
   • “Sweet baby, I cannot wait to see you in my dreams since I cannot see you here in my arms.” -Unknown

Section 3 of 10:

Quotes About Grieving a Baby

Download Article

1. Mourning the loss of a baby takes time. It’s important for parents to make room for their grief and not bottle up their emotions. Professional therapist Moshe Ratson, MFT, PCC, explains that “people need to be very gentle with themselves.” He goes on to say that people who are grieving need “to express their feelings and not deny what's going on inside of them and just allow it to be rather than repressing their emotions.”

   • “Any woman who’d ever lost a child knew of the hollowness that remained within the soul.” -Brittainy C. Cherry, Disgrace
   • “Even when tears no longer stain my face, my heart is still stained by miscarriage.” -Unknown
   • “The strongest person in the world is a grieving mother that wakes up and keeps going every day.” -Unknown
   • “Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give but cannot.” -Jamie Anderson
   • “I would have given my last breath to see you take your first.” -Unknown
   • “Grief is not a sign of weakness, nor a lack of faith…it is the price of love.” -Unknown
   • “You were with me for just a little while. I grieve because I’ll never see the magic in your smile.” -Unknown
   • “A piece of my heart will never be at peace again.” -Unknown
   • “Grief is like the ocean; it comes on waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim.” -Vicki Harrison
   • “A mother’s grief is as timeless as her love.” -Joanne Cacciatore
   • “Grief is the last act of love we can give to those we love. Where there is deep grief, there is great love.” -Unknown
   • “I wish I could have held you just once before you left us.” -Conan Gray
   • “If tears could build a stairway and memories were a lane, we would walk right up to heaven and bring you back again.” -Unknown
   • "There are three needs of the griever: To find the words for the loss, to say the words aloud and to know that the words have been heard." -Victoria Alexander
   • Nothing that grieves us can be called little: by the eternal laws of proportion a child's loss of a doll and a king's loss of a crown are events of the same size.” -Mark Twain
   • Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it. -Tori Amos
   • Do not judge your grief, love. Do not rush it, constrict it, or attempt to corral it into something the world will understand. -Jeanette LeBlanc
   • “Some say you are too painful to remember. I say you are too precious to forget.” -Unknown
   • “We learn to carry the grief and integrate the loss into our lives.” -Megan Devine
   • “Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality.” – Emily Dickinson
   • “A broken heart is the worst. It’s like having broken ribs. Nobody can see it, but it hurts every time you breathe.” -Unknown
   • “For the rest of my life I will search for moments full of you.” -Unknown
   • “No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.” -C.S. Lewis
   • “I cry for the life you lived and the one you didn’t.” -Unknown
   • “I think it’s okay if I’m a bit sad forever. It will remind me that you were real.” -Unknown
   • “I feel you everywhere, I look for you in everything.” -Unknown
   • “Your absence has gone through me like a thread through a needle. Everything I do is stitched with its color.” -W.S. Merwin
Advertisement

Section 4 of 10:

Quotes About Fertility Struggles

Download Article

1. 
   When you struggle to get pregnant, it can take an emotional toll. The path to conceiving is challenging for some parents, and in these situations, words of acknowledgement can keep you going. Tenzer says to consider their beliefs, too. “If they are religious or spiritual, incorporating a Bible verse or faith-based message can bring comfort and meaning during such a difficult time. It also takes the pressure off of trying to come up with the right words to say.” If you’re having a difficult time on your fertility journey, these quotes will help you feel less alone.

   • “What if infertility isn’t a war but an awakening? What if it’s not about death but about a renaissance?” -Rekha Ramcharan, Manifesting Motherness: Healing From Infertility
   • “Even miracles take a little time.” -Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother
   • “Your worth is not determined by your fertility.” -Unknown
   • “I’m not telling you it’s going to be easy, I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it.” -Unknown
   • “As long as we are persistent in our pursuit of our deepest destiny, we will continue to grow. We cannot choose the day or time when we will fully bloom. It happens on its own.” -Denis Waitley
   • “A little progress each day adds up to big results.” -Unknown
   • “Creating a family in this turbulent world is an act of faith, a wager that against all odds there will be a future, that love can last, that the heart can triumph against all adversities and even against the grinding wheel of time.” -Dean Koontz
   • “Sometimes the struggle is what makes success even sweeter.” -Unknown
   • “A strong woman looks a challenge dead in the eye and gives it a wink.” -Gina Carey
   • “I am learning to trust the journey even when I do not understand it.” -Mila Bron
   • “What feels like the end is often the beginning.” -Unknown
   • “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” -Margaret Thatcher
   • “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” -Confucius
   • “Don’t compare your struggles to anyone else’s. Don’t get discouraged by the success of others. Make your own path and never give up.” -MJ Korvan
   • “She is brave and strong and broken all at once.” -Anna Funder
   • “Be strong because things will get better. It may be stormy now, but it never rains forever.” -Unknown
   • “Start each day with a positive thought and a grateful heart.” -Roy Bennett
   • “When the world says, ‘give up,’ hope whispers, ‘try one more time.’” -Unknown
   • “Hope is the only thing stronger than fear.” -Robert Ludlum
   • “Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it.” -Unknown

Section 5 of 10:

Quotes for an Infant’s Memorial

Download Article

1. Creating a memorial after experiencing baby loss can be healing. No matter how brief your child’s life, they still deserve to be honored and remembered. When a woman goes through pregnancy loss or has a stillbirth, Khan explains that “you are still a mom, even if you've lost a baby. If you've been pregnant, people need to be a little bit more sensitive around the fact that you are still a mom.” We found some quotes that help you pay tribute to your baby.

   • “Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” -A.A. Milne
   • “Listen for my footfall in your heart. I am not gone but merely walk within you.” -Nicholas Evans
   • “Your life was a blessing. Your memory, a treasure. Loved beyond words. Missed beyond measure.” -Unknown
   • “For the day will come where you see your unborn baby, not through tears of sorrow but a smile in memory of his short time with you on earth.” -Unknown
   • “An angel in the book of life wrote down my baby’s birth. Then whispered as she closed the book, ‘Too beautiful for earth.’” -Unknown
   • “You were born silent. Perfect and beautiful. Still loved. Still missed. Still remembered. Everyday. Stillborn. Still born.” -Unknown
   • “Our children change us whether they live or not.” -Unknown
   • “Every moment with you was a precious gift, and your memory will forever be our treasure.” -Unknown
   • “Your presence was brief, but your impact is eternal.” -Unknown
   • “In our dreams, we hold you close and remember the love that will never fade.” -Unknown
   • “Though he died before anyone got to know him, he still made an impact, is still loved.” -Emma Hansen
   • “The only way I could protect you was to hand you over to the angels.” -Sara Millen
   • “A life need not be long-lived for it to have been meaningful.” -Unknown
   • “Even those that never blossom bring beauty into the world.” -Unknown
   • “Heaven and earth may separate us today, but nothing will ever change the fact that you made me a mom.” -Unknown
   • “Not all siblings walk hand in hand, for some are in heaven while others walk on land.” -Unknown
   • “Planted on earth to bloom in Heaven.” -Unknown
   • “My baby sleeps with the moon and the stars.” -Unknown
   • “Once in a while, children come into this world, so special that the angels need these precious ones. To sing in Heaven and light up the world from above.” -Unknown
   • “You were taken on angel’s wings as you sweetly and quietly slept. And returned to heaven before we knew that you had even left.” -Unknown
   • “It is not the length of life, but the depth.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
   • “Your fingerprints still linger on my heart.” -Unknown
Advertisement

Section 6 of 10:

Condolence Quotes for Sympathy Cards

Download Article

1. It can be difficult knowing what to say to someone who’s experiencing baby loss. While there are no words that can erase the pain of what they’re going through, a supportive message can make a difference. Tenzer recommends keeping your message short and simple, offering your support rather than trying to help them grieve. Grief counselor Cole Imperi shares, “The most important thing we can do is be present. If you are trying to reduce their pain, ease their suffering, or make it better, you’re not really honoring their experience. So we need to let it be painful — let it be — and let them know we’re not afraid to sit in it alongside them.” If you have a family member or friend who’s dealing with a miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant loss, here are some quotes that show you’re there for them.

   • “Perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy.” -Unknown
   • “Your loss matters. Your baby mattered. And I’m holding space for your grief, however it looks.”
   • “There are no words, only love. I’m here for you always.”
   • “Holding you in my heart during this unimaginable time. I’m here always.”
   • “Wishing you moments of peace as you navigate this loss. Sending you so much love today and always.”
   • “When the heart grieves over what it has lost, the spirit rejoices over what it has left.” -Sufi Epigram
   • “Sometimes, carrying the memory is the most courageous thing you can do.” – Unknown
   • “Rainbows remind us that even after the darkest clouds, and the fiercest winds, there is still beauty.” -Katrina Mayer
   • “This is my wish for you; Comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, laughter to kiss your lips.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
   • “You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered.” -Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
   • “A rainbow baby is a special kind of miracle that only exists because of your loss, not instead of it.” -Unknown
   • “You’re allowed to feel it all — sadness, anger, confusion, love. Every single feeling is valid.” -Unknown
   • “You carried so much love. That doesn’t disappear, even in loss.” -Unknown
   • “Your grief is real, your love was real, and I see how deeply this matters.” -Unknown
   • “You gave your baby all your love — and that love still matters more than words can say.” -Unknown
   • “You became a mother the moment you hoped, the moment you dreamed, the moment you loved that baby. That hasn’t changed.” -Unknown
   • “Even though you didn’t get to hold your baby in your arms, they were held in your heart from the very start.” -Unknown
   • “You were a father the moment you knew. And your love still counts, even if others can’t see it.” -Unknown
   • “You might not have had the chance to hold your baby, but your love for them still runs deep.” -Unknown

Section 7 of 10:

Poems About Baby Loss

Download Article

1. 1
   “A Butterfly Lights Beside Us” -Unknown
   A butterfly lights beside us like a sunbeam, and for a
   brief moment its glory and beauty belong to our world:
   but then it flies again. And though we wish it could
   have stayed, we feel so lucky to have seen it.
2. 2
   “A Mother's Grief” -Kelly Cummings
   You ask me how I'm feeling, but do you really want to know?
   The moment I try telling you, you say you have to go.
   You ask me how I'm holding up, but do you really care?
   The second I try to speak my heart, you start squirming in your chair.
   Because I am so lonely, you see, no one comes around,
   I'll take the words I want to say and quietly choke them down.
   Everyone avoids me now because they don't know what to say,
   They tell me, "I'll be there for you," then turn and walk away.
   Call me if you need me, that's what everybody said,
   But how can I call you and scream into the phone,
   "My God, my child is dead?"
   I am tired of pretending as my heart pounds in my chest,
   I say things to make you comfortable, but my soul finds no rest.
   How can I tell you things that are too sad to be told,
   Of the helplessness of holding a child who in your arms grows cold?
   Maybe you can tell me, how should one behave,
   Who's had to follow their child's casket, watched it perched above a grave?
   You cannot imagine what it was like for me that day,
   To place a final kiss upon that box and have to turn and walk away.
   If you really love me, and I believe you do,
   If you really want to help me, here is what I need from you.
   Sit down beside me, reach out and take my hand,
   Say, "My friend, I've come to listen, I want to understand."
   Just hold my hand and listen, that's all you need to do,
   And if by chance I shed a tear, it's alright if you do too.
3. 3
   “So Go and Run Free” -Unknown
   So go and run free with the angels
   Dance around the golden clouds
   For the lord has chosen you to be with him
   And we should feel nothing but proud
   Although he has taken you from us
   And our pain a lifetime will last
   Your memory will never escape us
   But make us glad for the time we did have
   Your face will always be hidden
   Deep inside our hearts
   Each precious moment you gave us
   Shall never, ever depart
   So go and run free with the angels
   As they sing so tenderly
   And please be sure to tell them
   To take good care of you for me.
4. 4
   “Family Chain” -Ron Tranmer
   We little knew that morning,
   God was going to call your name.
   In life we loved you dearly,
   In death we do the same.
   It broke our hearts to lose you,
   You did not go alone,
   For part of us went with you,
   the day God called you home.
   You left us beautiful memories,
   Your love is still our guide
   And though we cannot see you,
   You are always by our side.
   Our family chain is broken
   And nothing seems the same
   But as God calls us one by one
   The chain will link again.
5. 5
   “Think of Me” -Unknown
   When you're feeling sad or a little blue,
   Look around and you'll see I'm here with you
   I'm the bird who soars so high above
   I'm the one who filled your heart with love.“Inside Our Dreams” -Jeanne Willis{endbold}
   
   Where do people go to when they die?
   Somewhere down below or in the sky?
   'I can't be sure,' said Grandad, 'but it seems
   They simply set up home inside our dreams.'
6. 6
   “P'u - Hua Fei Hua” -Bai Juyi
   A flower and not a flower; of mist and yet not of mist;
   At midnight she was there; she went as daylight shone.
   She came and for a little while was like a dream of spring,
   And then, as morning clouds that vanish traceless,
   she was gone.
7. 7
   “Look for Me in Rainbows” -Conn Bernard
   Time for me to go now, I won't say goodbye;
   Look for me in rainbows, way up in the sky.
   In the morning sunrise when all the world is new,
   Just look for me and love me, as you know I loved you.
Advertisement

Section 8 of 10:

What Not To Say to a Grieving Parent

Download Article

1. 
   While you want to offer as much comfort as possible, be mindful of the words you use. Tenzer says phrases like “they’re in a better place” probably won’t resonate with someone who just lost a precious child, and may actually be harmful for them to hear. Choose your words with care, making sure you’re being sensitive to the situation. There are appropriate and inappropriate things to say when it comes to pregnancy loss. To help you, here are some things you should avoid saying.

   • “Everything happens for a reason.”
   • “You can try again.”
   • “At least you know you can get pregnant.”
   • “Maybe there was something wrong with the baby.”
   • “At least it was early on.”
   • “He/she is in a better place.”
   • “At least you already have one.”
   • “It wasn’t meant to be.”
   • “I know someone who’s had five miscarriages.”
   • “It was probably for the best.”

Section 9 of 10:

Other Ways to Show Support to a Grieving Parent

Download Article

1. Going through a miscarriage, stillbirth, or other type of infant loss is a traumatic experience. “Sometimes, the most meaningful support isn’t something you say at all,” Tenzer explains. “It’s more about what you do during their time of grief that can be more supportive. Offer to bring a meal. Sit with them on the couch. Watch a movie. Cry together. Be present without expectation.” Here are some ways you can support a friend or family member during this time:

   • Help with light housekeeping and laundry.
   • Organize meal drop-offs.
   • Go grocery shopping.
   • Offer to handle pet care, like walking the dog.
   • Pick up any prescriptions.
   • Give them space when it’s needed.
   • Be there for any surviving siblings.
   • Let them express their feelings how they want.
   • Help with funeral arrangements.
   • Offer to stay to take phone calls and receive guests.
   • Help with bills.
   • Drop off or pick up kids from school.
   • Do a comforting activity together, like a puzzle or arts and crafts.
Advertisement

Section 10 of 10:

When is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month?

Download Article

1. 
   Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month happens every October. Some pregnancies come to an end unexpectedly for many reasons, and this is a devastating experience for parents. Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month was established as a way to show support for families and recognize their pain. Many organizations offer resources and put together community groups for people to connect.

Expert Q&A

Search

Add New Question

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Advertisement

Tips

Submit a Tip

All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published

Name

Please provide your name and last initial

Submit

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!