Miscarriage awareness was the theme of a Rainbow Luncheon thrown in honor of babies lost to miscarriage thrown by the March of Dimes in honor of its latest celebrity ambassador Porsha Williams of BravoTV‘s Real Housewives of Atlanta, and featured on Season 12, episode 20.
Over 50,000 others experience life-threatening complications as a result of pregnancy and childbirth each year, and 380,000 babies are born prematurely, and sadly, in the United States, there is a maternal health crisis that disproportionately affects black women.
That’s why the organization selected Williams, a new mom who recently welcomed daughter Pilar Jhena with fiance Dennis McKinley.
During the episode which featured the October 2019 event, Williams opened the luncheon by sharing how she suffered a miscarriage alone in her bathroom six years ago, adding that it was something she had never spoken about openly and decided to join the crusade to ensure other women are aware of the prevalence of miscarriage and do not have to go through it alone.
Three of the “Friends of the Housewives” of this franchise of the show also spoke up:
Tanya Sam opened up about having limited egg reserves because she found love later in life.
“I got the news that like I didn’t have a lot of egg reserves so that’s why it was so hard [to have a baby],” Sam, a tech angel investor says. “I recently started talking about it and I find there’s a lot of strength in being able to say that to other women.”
Shamea Morton Mwangi spoke up about having severe complications with her epidural before she gave birth and recovery.
Marlo Hampton shared that she have had two ectoptic pregnancies and used to question God about why she couldn’t have a baby but later resolved to herself that she was deprived of motherhood so she could be in a position to mother her nephews 12-year old Michael and 11-year old Matthew in place of her sister who is mentally incapable of caring for the boys.
Cast member Nene Leakes said in a confessional that she too has had a miscarriage as has her arch nemesis Kenya Moore who struggled with infertility before welcoming her daughter Brooklyn Doris with her estranged ex, Marc Daly.
“Being a woman doesn’t mean you are guaranteed to have children.” Moore said in a confessional. ” I nearly died having Brooklyn and you should never shame women for not being able to have children because those are things you cannot change.”
The March of Dimes is hoping Williams will use her advocacy to draw attention to the , as well as to spotlight her own challenges and joys of pregnancy and motherhood.
March of Dimes President and CEO Stacey D. Stewart presented Williams with a painting by a black female artist as a thank you for hosting the event.
Another Bravo franchise Real Housewives of Potomac featured an episode last season centered around three women from that show that suffered miscarriage loss, Monique Samuels, who hosted a Unicorn celebration in lieu of a baby shower, during which co-star and new mom Ashley Darby opened up about her own loss. Friend of the Housewives Katie Rost also has a sad pass with loss.
Photos courtesy: BravoTV, FreddyO, screencapture
It was nice. Watch a clip of it here: