Chrissy Teigen and John Legend reveal 'deep pain' following loss of baby
Model was admitted to hospital this week and underwent 2 blood transfusions
Chrissy Teigen and her husband, singer-songwriter John Legend, are mourning the loss of a baby, the model said on social media Thursday morning.
Teigen, who is also a TV personality and cookbook author, posted on Instagram, writing that she and Legend are in the "deep pain you only hear about."
"We were never able to stop the bleeding and give our baby the fluids he needed, despite bags and bags of blood transfusions. It just wasn't enough," she wrote, alongside a picture of herself in tears on a hospital bed.
Another image showed her and Legend grieving together over a bundle cradled in her arms.
The couple based in Los Angeles also revealed the name they chose for the baby, who would have been their third child, joining daughter Luna, 4, and son Miles, 2.
"To our Jack — I'm so sorry that the first few moments of your life were met with so many complications, that we couldn't give you the home you needed to survive. We will always love you," she wrote.
Legend retweeted her post, adding "We love you, Jack."
Teigen thanked those who have been sending "positive energy, thoughts and prayers."
"We are so grateful for the life we have, for our wonderful babies Luna and Miles, for all the amazing things we've been able to experience. But every day can't be full of sunshine. On this darkest of days, we will grieve, we will cry our eyes out. But we will hug and love each other harder and get through it."
Teigen open about fertility struggles
Teigen announced her pregnancy in August with a video posted to her Instagram account, saying "look at this third baby."
But the pregnancy hadn't been smooth. In a video Teigen posted to Instagram on Sept. 17, the model said while her baby was healthy, her placenta was weak. A few days ago, she revealed she was in hospital for blood transfusions after excessive bleeding.
"Hello from hospital. About to have my second blood transfusion," she captioned one of her social media posts, adding that "baby and I are completely fine."
Teigen, who is known for her quick quips and cheeky humour, has been open about her personal life on social media — including her struggles with fertility and undergoing IVF treatment.
Following the birth of her daughter, Teigen opened up about her postpartum depression in an essay for Glamour magazine, writing that she was taking antidepressants and in therapy.
Teigen also highlighted that postpartum depression could happen to anyone.
"[I] just didn't think it could happen to me. I have a great life. I have all the help I could need: John, my mother (who lives with us), a nanny. But postpartum does not discriminate," she wrote in the essay.
1 in 4 women miscarry, research shows
Current research suggests one in four women miscarry, said Dr. Tanya Cotler, a clinical psychologist based in Toronto.
"It's actually really common."
Cotler, who specializes in maternal mental health, said mothers who miscarry, especially in their first trimester, have a tendency to keep the pain and feelings of guilt to themselves.
"The zeitgeist is still one where it's cast to shadows," she said. "It's terribly detrimental."
Like Teigen, the Toronto psychologist highlighted that nobody is immune to miscarriages or fertility issues, but that talking about them normalizes the subject.
"When we talk about that one in four or 25 per cent, then mothers see, or fathers see, I'm not alone in this pain, this has happened to others," she said. "Which inevitably makes the [parents] feel less guilt and shame."
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Cotler called Teigen a "pillar" in moving the conversation forward. Along with heartbreak, she was "moved" to see the star share the loss of her baby.
"I found it so significantly meaningful and important that she shared that beautiful image, that truth," said Cotler. "That is what makes everyone who has experienced this kind of loss less alone."
And she hopes the conversation will continue to move forward.
"All of this needs to be taken out of the shadows and the only way that happens is by us sharing our vulnerability with one another and by bearing witness to each other's stories."
With files from The Associated Press, Susana da Silva