October 15 is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. It is a day to remember the losses that parents have experienced as a result of miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, molar pregnancies, stillbirths, and infant death.
On 25 October 1988, President Ronald Reagan issued Proclamation 5890, which designated October 1988 as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month.
In 2002, Robyn Bear, Lisa Brown, and Tammy Novak started the October 15th Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day Campaign. October 15 was chosen as the date because it was in the middle of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. 20 states signed proclamations recognizing October 15, 2002 as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. All 50 states now either sign proclamations annually or have permanent proclamations.
People are invited to light a candle on October 15 at 7:00 PM in all time zones and to keep it burning for at least an hour. This will create a wave of light around the world for 24 hours.
Today I am remembering two great-uncles that I never knew. For years I believed that my paternal grandfather Henry Cornelius Gatlin was an only child. After I began researching my family history, I learned about his two brothers.
His mother and my great-grandmother, Anna Gertrude Tarkington, gave birth to a baby boy on 12 June 1907 in Nashville, Tennessee. His name was Robert Leland Taylor, and he was my grandfather's older half-brother. He only lived for a few weeks; he died on 4 July 1907. According to his death certificate, the cause of death was congenital debility and marasmus.
On 26 June 1923, Gertrude and my great-grandfather Henry Brown Gatlin had a stillborn son, Eugene Joseph Gatlin. The stillbirth was caused by placenta previa. My grandfather was thirteen years old at the time, so he also experienced the loss of his brother.
References
October 15th Origination
Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day
Remembering Our Babies: The Official Site of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day
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