BUFFALO, N.Y. — When Molly White and her husband Jeremy discovered she was pregnant, they were surprised to find they were expecting not one child, but four.
Molly has a twin and grew up with another set of twin siblings. She told 2 On Your Side's Karys Belger she leaned on her mother for support but was initially overwhelmed at the news.
"I was both really excited that we were pregnant and also, um I cried a lot because I just didn’t know how we were going to make this work", she said.
Doctors informed her there were some risks, but White says she remained optimistic. She was healthy and felt fine during her pregnancy.
"I didn’t think a lot about the potential to lose them. It is more of, they might come early, they might be in the NICU for a long time."
At 19 weeks, Molly says, something changed.
"I just knew I was in pain I eventually went to the hospital. Went to Oishei"
Over a span of five days Molly tells me, she lost all four of her children, something she couldn’t have prepared for.
Molly's husband WGR radio personality Jeremy White publicly spoke about the experience in his platform. She says the outpouring of support, particularly from other women, was astounding.
"You realize that there’s other people, there’s so many other people that are with you."
Valerie B. of East Aurora says while her experience was not exactly the same, she too felt the support of her community when she shared her experience.
Valerie told 2 On Your Side's Karys Belger she suffered two losses this year. First, she was told she had a bad egg by her doctor. She mourned the loss privately because she hadn't told anyone except her husband she was expecting.
Valerie was pregnant again by the summer and says she began to tell her family and a few friends. During a checkup, her doctor couldn't find a heartbeat. She told 2 On Your Side, the second loss was much worse.
"I could see my baby. I could see them moving and stretching and then all of a sudden, they just were gone."
Eventually, Valerie decided to share what happened on Facebook. Like, Molly, she says she was overwhelmed with support from other women who told her about their loss.
Valerie and Molly, told On your Side, they believe it's important to share their experiences because they can help other women and they've seen how other women doing something similar has helped create a dialogue around the topic of perinatal loss.
25 percent of pregnancies end in loss, and recently, and more women are beginning to tell their stories. Most notably Chrissy Teigen, Christina Perri, and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex have publicly shared their experiences.
Valerie told 2 On Your Side she saw Tiegen's post on Instagram and noticed how many women also commented about their own stories.
The impact is similar to what she says she experienced.
White says the Perinatal Bereavement Network helped her and her family as they were coping with their loss. The organization offers different services for families, including bears with the heartbeats of their children so they can have a way to cherish their memories.
Since last year, White and her husband have spearheaded different initiatives to help the Western New York Perinatal Bereavement Network as a way to help other women get the support she says she received.
"If we can do something to help other women, to help their families, we want to."
More information bout the Perinatal Bereavement Network can be found here.