Dr. Jessica Zucker: Pregnancy Loss, Postpartum Grief and How to Ask for Help

Dr. Jessica Zucker—bestselling author of I Had a Miscarriage and Normalize It—joins Chrissy for a raw and honest conversation about the things women are rarely encouraged to say out loud. They talk openly about miscarriage, terminating a pregnancy for medical reasons, postpartum anxiety, body image, and the pressure to seem “fine” while quietly falling apart. Jessica shares her simple UPEND framework to help listeners name what happened, tell their story without shame, and move toward real self-compassion.

Listener Advised: This episode includes conversations about pregnancy loss, postpartum grief, anxiety, depression, and terminating a pregnancy for medical reasons.

Key takeaways

1. Why silence → stigma → shame is a cycle that quietly harms women’s mental health—and how naming the truth disrupts it.
2. What “Normalize It” really means: making space for the full spectrum of women’s experiences (periods, fertility struggles, miscarriage, TFMR, postpartum, menopause) without secrecy or self-blame.
3. The emotional reality of pregnancy loss: why time speeds up in hospitals, and why people often later regret not taking more time, asking more questions, or having more softness.
4. What not to say to someone grieving (no “at least,” no “God has a plan,” no platitudes)—and what actually helps: presence, consistency, and “I don’t know what to say, but I’m here.”
5. How grief can show up as postpartum anxiety/depression, sometimes months later—and why “looking put-together” can still hide real suffering.

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