Note: This article covers pregnancy loss and stillbirth.
Beloved actor Rachel Bilson has opened up about her experience with baby loss the latest episode of her Broad Ideas podcast.
The media icon, who is best known for her role as Summer in The O.C. alongside her podcasting career, was in discussion with author Libby Weintraub, who wrote the book She Was Born: Word on Loss and Liberation.
Weintraub talked of her own experience with stillbirth, losing her daughter Magnolia in the most heart-breaking of ways. The conversation was prompted as it is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month.
In the spirit of opening up and sharing these raw stories, Bilson decided to detail her own experience with multiple pregnancy losses.
““It’s one of the biggest things I talk about with pregnancy and having babies,” Bilson said on the air.
“I’ve had miscarriages, so I’ve had losses.” She elaborated further, “Never carried. They were early on.”
Bilson went on to have a daughter in 2014, who she named Briar Rose.
The experience of baby loss changed the way that Bilson approached pregnancy the next time around. She said she felt a need to “roll with the punches” that pregnancy brings because she was all too aware of how quickly things can change. This included her approach to birth planning.
“With birth, I even remember going into [it saying], ‘I’m open to whatever,’” she said. “What plans can you make when it’s really not up to you? I always knew I was going to go to a hospital and would not try a home birth.”
Bilson’s daughter is now eight years old, but she has kept her well out of the celebrity spotlight. In a 2019 interview with SheKnows, Bilson talked about how important Briar Rose is in her life.
“You just feel like — you really are living a life with a purpose,” Bilson said at the time. “Setting an example for her is the most important. So, in that, it’s like every move you make you know is being watched, so you have to consider things a little more carefully.”
Inside of Pregnancy And Infant Loss Awareness Month sits Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, October 25. It’s a day to remember the children who have passed, and also to help women open up about their experiences so they feel less alone.
If you’ve experienced pregnancy loss or stillbirth and need support, call SANDS on 1300 072 637, Lifeline on 13 11 14. If you’ve experienced the loss of a child call Bears of Hope on 1300 11 HOPE.
