Content Creator Opens Up About Miscarriage During Iranian Missile Attack

Photo: Anahal Shmueli’s Instagram account

Content creator Anahal Shmueli revealed that less than a year after experiencing a stillbirth, she had a miscarriage. In a video she posted that drew more than 100,000 views, she shared her painful feelings: "Under missiles, alone, I went through another miscarriage. I’m walking around with a rock in my heart. I am such a positive person and somehow I feel like a messenger of pain."

According to her, the expected due date for the current pregnancy was supposed to fall exactly on the day she lost her son: "Why am I not that Cinderella story? I had already imagined how you would all be excited with me." Shmueli said that after hearing many stories about the healing a baby would bring after such a difficult experience, she thought she would be able to close the circle: "My story is different, I am different."

Later, she made a clear request to all those offering comfort: "Before all the messengers of God jump in with advice, explanations and 'everything happens for the best,' I do not need that. The reason? Right now it does not interest me. Asking why me? Again? There is no answer that really makes sense. Just ugh and sadness and all the curses in the world."

Shmueli shared the lesson she learned in the most painful way: "The only thing a woman needs after a miscarriage or stillbirth is for people not to try to fix her. Not to explain or force encouragement. Just be sad with her for a moment. It does not solve anything, but God, how comforting it is."

She also used the moment to encourage all the women going through the same difficult experience: "Heroines. They get up in the morning, function, and keep going while their hearts quietly collapse." According to her, she had every reason in the world to keep the matter to herself and not share it, but chose otherwise. "I do not want to be another example of 'keeping it inside.' There is nothing strengthening or healing about that. Talking, crying and falling apart is not weakness. There is no punchline here, just a heart that is a little broken."