According to the March of Dimes, 30% of pregnancies end in miscarriage. The topic is taboo in society, and very few people talk openly about it. This is because there is pain and shame attached to it.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus is doing her small part to end this. She opened up on her podcast Wiser Than Me about her own experience with miscarriage at age 28. She called it an "emotionally devastating" situation that she got through with the help of her mom — and cornbread. Sometimes even just the aroma of a good meal is healing.
"When I was about 28, I got pregnant for the first time, and I was crazy happy," Julia began. "I got pregnant easily. I felt very fertile, very womanly. And then, quite late in the pregnancy, my husband Brad and I discovered that this little fetus was not going to live."
Julia married Brad Hall in 1987. The couple first met when they were students at Northwestern University. They went on to become cast members on Saturday Night Live in its eighth season. It is a match made in comedy heaven.
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The loss of Julia and Brad’s first pregnancy was "emotionally devastating" and quickly became a "complete nightmare." Julia developed an infection and had to be hospitalized. She was not released until "a couple of days later."
"I finally got out of the hospital, and I came home to recuperate, but I wasn't allowed to get out of bed yet. I was, as they say, bedridden," she continued. It was a hard recovery both physically and emotionally.
Turns out what Julia needed most was her mother — and some cornbread. Her mom was happy to help.
"She made this incredible cozy chili in a cast iron skillet with cornbread on top in the pan," Julia remembered. "She and my husband Brad set up a little card table at the foot of the bed. And the smell of that cornbread and the chili was so wonderful."
Julia was not allowed to eat solid foods yet, but the delicious smells were enough. She recalls that day and that meal as one of her "greatest memories." It helped her heal.
Julia went on to say that “it didn't matter” that she could not eat it. “It was the best meal ever. The making of it was so comforting and so embracing.”
Julia and Brad would go on to have two children. Their son Henry Hall was born in 1992, making him 30 years old. His brother, Charlie Hall, is 25 and came into this world in 1997.
