When Mommies Cry: Losing a Baby

By Beth Withers Banning

When Mommies Cry details the journey of the author as she experiences the loss of her baby.

Beth Withers Banning delves deep into her soul to express lessons she learned from her first-hand knowledge of grief and offers life lessons to assist in the grieving process for mothers everywhere. Ms. Withers Banning takes the reader through a personal narrative of her experience and shares on every level the emotions, reactions, associations, and results that came from losing her newborn son. The author has provided a resource to bring about healing for grieving mothers.

In 2011, there were almost 24,000 known infant deaths in the United States and the average number of abortions per year is 1.06 million. Even more alarming, an estimated one in 75 conceptions miscarry, many of which create physical repercussions for the mother. These disturbing statistics expose the very real need for mothers who have lost or aborted a child. Millions of women are mourning in silence leaving their broken hearts vulnerable during the most susceptible time of their lives.

When Mommies Cry is a valuable resource for grieving mothers. Joyce Landorf Heatherly, Owner/Author of Balcony Publishing, states, “Not too many of us that have gone through the loss of a loved one are able to articulate and record the devastation and at the same time reach and comfort the point of pain in another’s grief filled heart. But Beth Withers Banning does exactly that in When Mommies Cry. I know as she did it for me even though my son David died in 1964.” Ms. Withers Banning puts in print what some women who have gone through losing a child only think in their darkest hour.

Women, as a whole, all want the same things--true happiness and fulfillment. When those things are threatened, lost, or severed in our lives, the journey back can be overwhelming. The author provides a step-by-step climb back to healing for the grieving mother.

Because we are created for community, providing a forum for mothers to learn and grow from one another’s experiences can also help bring healing and produce beauty for ashes. Grieving mothers are encouraged to share this website and take advantage of this FREE opportunity to not only work through their grief by sharing their own story but help others as well.

Feel free to contact Beth Withers Banning through her website to schedule a book signing or speaking engagement to support grieving mothers as they trek through this most devastating time of life. Ms. Withers Banning has also set up a Facebook page www.facebook.com/bethbanningmommies as an additional resource.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: Jan 7, 2020
• ISBN: 9781400327027

Beth Withers Banning

Beth Withers Banning is an author and copywrite specialist for Christian publications.  She graduated from Arlington Baptist College with a degree in Biblical Studies in 1977 and with a Masters in Management and Leadership from Liberty University in 2014. Ms. Withers Banning has traveled the world working with outreaches to the underprivileged. She lives in Carrollton, Texas near her daughter and grandchildren who are the light of her life; and is very active in her church, Northside Baptist where she has served as Ladies Ministry Leader for over 20 years. In 1985 Beth lost a child, an experience that produced a manuscript, “When Mommies Cry,” detailing her journey.  Joyce Landorf Heatherly gave a foreword stating, “Not too many of us who have gone through the loss of a loved one are able to articulate and record the devastation and at the same time reach and comfort the point of pain in another’s grief filled heart…she did it for me...” Ms. Withers Banning has since published "A Life Worth Remembering" which is a historical account of her aunt's life during the women's suffrage movement in Texas. Her third book is “When the Glass Slipper Breaks” lending insights into dealing with broken relationships. Her latest book is a continuation of her “When” series titled “When Faith Fails – the Aftermath of Sexual Abuse.”  Ms. Withers Banning has also successfully produced Bible Studies including “Beauty for Ashes” and “Developing a Servant’s Heart” which she has taught and distributed throughout the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex.

Book preview

Tears of Joy

He cometh forth like a flower.

Job 14:2 (KJV)

Isn’t it strange how we all seem to grow up embracing the same Cinderella dream of marriage and babies? I was married at the age of eighteen and wanted a child from the very beginning. The first couple of years, we tried to conceive with no results. I didn’t worry too much because college and career took up my time and thoughts. As my biological clock started ticking, however, and college and career became old news, my husband and I began to wonder if we were ever going to have children.

After years of trying to have children, things became quite serious. The big three-zero was upon us and still no sign of children. Of course, there were societal penalties from not already having started a family. When are you going to start having children? What’s taking you two so long? Comments like, It’s time for you kids to get a family started, really took their toll on us. Eventually, though, everyone was silenced by our obvious avoidance of the subject, coupled with the fact that I cried at almost every baby shower.

In a panic, we eagerly signed up with two adoption agencies who promised a minimum of five years waiting. I began inquiring about fertility tests and went to specialist after specialist to find out why I could not get pregnant. It really became quite humorous trying all the different suggestions to improve fertility. Looking back, our exercises in fertility were fun, but nothing seemed to dispel the dark cloud of infertility hanging over our heads.

I watched so many women I knew who didn’t welcome their pregnancies and grieved for them. I longed desperately to feel a child in my womb. My hopes and dreams were bound up in being a mother, and it seemed so unfair that these women had a choice. Life seemed to pass me by until, finally, God heard my plea.

Much to our delight, after ten years of barrenness, one morning I awoke to complete and total nausea. I immediately dismissed the possibility of morning sickness lest it be untrue. The next two weeks held more of the same, and somehow, I knew that God had finally granted us a pregnancy! For the third time that year, I went to the doctor for a blood test and waited patiently for two whole days. Drugstore pregnancy tests weren’t available then—they really did have to kill the rabbit. To save embarrassment, I refused to jinx it by telling anyone. Then, the news I had been waiting for so long: Mrs. Banning, you are going to have a baby.

My heart was pounding with excitement and joy. I ran out to get an I Am Pregnant book that I had had my eye on for some time. I signed it with all the love I could muster and had it waiting on the kitchen table for my husband when he woke up. When he noticed it, our eyes locked and a huge smile came over his face. We embraced and bowed our head to thank a loving God who had mercy on us.

The pregnancy was difficult from the very first. I don’t ever remember being so sick. Complications arose about the fifth month, and emergency surgery had to be performed to save the baby’s life. The surgery was successful, and I was put to bed for the rest of my last term. On January 4, 1984, my daughter, Terri Elizabeth, was born. Tears of joy flowed steadily, and I treasured every moment of her life. People would make fun of me for writing down every thought, capturing every moment in pictures, and being enraptured in the sheer delight of her in my arms.

Then, only thirteen months later, I learned I was to bear another precious life. Like all children, he was a precious seed, planted for a purpose. Do you remember that feeling? What was it for you? Happiness beyond description, joy, misery,