Pregnancy After Loss Therapy in Massachusetts & Rhode Island
You're pregnant again. So why doesn't the fear go away?
Pregnancy after loss can hold two completely different emotions at once.
You can be incredibly grateful to be pregnant again—and terrified that you’ll lose this pregnancy too.
You may have imagined another pregnancy would finally allow you to exhale. Instead, you find yourself checking symptoms, analyzing every sensation, counting the days until your next appointment, or trying not to become “too excited.”
After pregnancy loss, pregnancy doesn’t always feel safe anymore.
I’m Ashley Luongo, LMHC, a therapist specializing in pregnancy loss, pregnancy after loss, infertility, and perinatal mental health. I provide pregnancy after loss therapy to adults in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Anxiety During Pregnancy After Miscarriage or Loss
Maybe you’ve told yourself:
I’ll feel better after we see the heartbeat.
Then it’s after the next ultrasound.
Then after genetic testing.
Then after you reach the week when your previous loss occurred.
Then after the anatomy scan.
Then once you can feel movement.
The milestone arrives. You feel relief temporarily—and then your brain finds the next thing to worry about.
Pregnancy after loss can feel like constantly waiting for permission to believe that everything might actually be okay.
Common Experiences During Pregnancy After Loss
You may find yourself:
- Checking for blood every time you use the bathroom
- Monitoring pregnancy symptoms
- Panicking when symptoms change
- Searching online for reassurance
- Feeling intense anxiety before ultrasounds
- Struggling to look at the ultrasound screen
- Avoiding buying baby items
- Feeling afraid to announce your pregnancy
- Comparing this pregnancy with the pregnancy you lost
- Feeling anxious approaching milestones
- Preparing yourself emotionally for bad news
- Feeling guilty when you allow yourself to feel excited
- Having difficulty connecting with the pregnancy
These reactions can make sense after experiencing pregnancy loss.
You Don't Have to Choose Between Hope and Fear
People may tell you to relax, enjoy your pregnancy, or remind you that “this pregnancy is different.”
They may mean well.
But reassurance doesn’t erase what happened.
Pregnancy after loss therapy isn’t about convincing you that nothing difficult could happen.
Instead, we can work on tolerating uncertainty, recognizing when your previous experience is taking over the present, and allowing moments of connection and hope without requiring yourself to feel completely fearless first.
Pregnancy After Loss Can Bring Grief Back
Being pregnant again doesn’t mean you’re finished grieving.
A new pregnancy can sometimes bring that grief even closer.
You may think about how old your baby would have been. You may compare pregnancies. You may feel guilty for being excited—or guilty because you don’t feel excited enough.
And it can be painful when other people behave as though becoming pregnant again has “fixed” what happened.
A new pregnancy doesn’t replace the pregnancy you lost.
There is space to hope for this baby while continuing to grieve another.
How Pregnancy After Loss Therapy Can Help
Our work may include:
- Anxiety between prenatal appointments
- Fear of another miscarriage or pregnancy loss
- Intrusive thoughts and worst-case scenarios
- Hypervigilance around symptoms
- Ultrasound and medical appointment anxiety
- Grief from your previous pregnancy
- Difficulty connecting with your current pregnancy
- Triggering dates and milestones
- Boundaries with friends and family
- Communicating with your partner
- Preparing emotionally for birth
- Preparing for postpartum
- Learning to stay connected to the present pregnancy
When a previous loss or medical experience continues to feel traumatic, EMDR therapy may also be incorporated when appropriate.
You Don't Have to Spend Nine Months Holding Your Breath
The goal isn’t to convince yourself that you can control the outcome.
It’s to help you find moments where you can breathe again even while uncertainty exists.
You deserve support during this pregnancy—not just once your baby arrives.
Pregnancy After Loss Therapist in MA & RI
I provide pregnancy after loss therapy to adults throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island, including virtual therapy and in-person services in Franklin, MA.
If you’re pregnant after miscarriage or pregnancy loss and anxiety is making it difficult to experience this pregnancy, you don’t have to navigate it alone.