The Water Ceremony for Miscarriage

You may find yourself here because you have experienced a miscarriage and are looking for a particular kind of ceremony for your baby or maybe you flushed your baby and would like a way to honor your baby and find a bit of peace and closure. This post will walk you through the water ceremony for miscarriage.

I learned about the water ceremony a few months ago and have incorporated this into my practice ever since. I have had so many women carry such guilt over flushing their baby and this is a way to help them find peace.

The basis behind it is to find a large body of water. Some people have done this on vacations or have purposely gone to the ocean but you don’t have to do that. It’s up to you although it can also be healing to go on vacation and perform such a ceremony.

Preparation for the ceremony is important. Some people right a poem, a note to their baby or God, pick flowers or other items that remind them of their pregnancy or baby, pictures, etc. So finding something of importance or remembrance at the water ceremony is important.

Clothing – deciding what you will wear much like any other ceremony can be important since many people prepare for other ceremonies in this way.

Pictures – Do you want a photographer or someone else to take pictures at your ceremony?

Choose the date – The due date, other date of significance, or your next day off, etc. Some Catholics choose a feast day or a particular Saints day.

Other items of significance.

Once you feel prepared for the ceremony and have chosen a date, you would begin. It can be very simple or as elaborate as you would like. You could have candles or flowers around as well.

Thank anyone who came to the ceremony if it feels appropriate. During the ceremony, you could announce your baby’s sex or their name if it was something you have kept from others. Share about your baby or pregnancy if it feels right.

Then you can read some bible verses, religious/spiritual affirmations/sayings, or sit in silence.

There are some verses that can be said. You can completely make them up or adapt them. Here is an example of one:

“Little one [or you can fill in baby’s name] you have been received by the water, ‘For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;’ you will help this Earth bear fruit for its eternity.” Adapted from Isaiah 55:10

Once all of that has been completed, you might read the poem or note(s). Some people place them in a bottle, attach them to a balloon or flower, and release them instead or after reading them, it’s up to you.

So that’s the gist of the water ceremony for miscarriage. There is so much you could add to this and when I work with my clients on this ceremony, we design it together. Sometimes they just run with it and do it all on their own.