Parenting

“I don’t feel like being funny…” Em Rusciano takes time off to mark the due date of her late baby

“I was just going to try and power through it and then it’s been looming on the horizon like a dark cloud.”
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It was just six months ago that Now To Love* reported that comedian and radio presenter Em Rusciano had tragically come face to face with something one in four women are forced to deal with: she had suffered a heartbreaking miscarriage.

And while we’re used to listening to this comedic genius light up our airwaves with her banter and hilarity, this week, she’s taken a more, sombre and, on her own terms, honest approach to enlightening and speaking to her listeners. This week, she’s talking about life after losing her little boy, Ray – and we should all thank her for it.

Opening up during her 2Day FM breakfast radio show with Harley Breen on Wednesday, November 23, Em revealed she would be taking a two-day break to honour the life of her son, as well as to grieve his passing in her own way.

“I was supposed to give birth tomorrow,” she began. “I wasn’t really sure, and this was another thing, when you lose a baby (and I lost my baby at 14 weeks) no-one really tells you what to do when the due date comes around.”

She then went on to say that no-one really told how to feel or how to act after losing Ray, which was the catalyst for Em in detailing her struggle with thousands of families across the nation.

In Em’s words, there’s no “manual” of how to grieve after laying your miscarried child to rest.

“I was just going to try and power through it and then it’s been looming on the horizon like a dark cloud,” she continued.

“I just don’t feel like being funny. It’s really hard. This whole week’s been really hard.”

While she’s not quite sure what she’ll do today and tomorrow, she does know she will be right by the plant in her backyard where Ray is buried, as well as drink gin with her best friend while watching the new Barbara Streisand special on Netflix.

“Barbara Streisand is releasing her Netflix special tomorrow because Babs knew! Babs knew I needed her,” Em said.

Here’s to thinking about Em, along with other women across the globe who’ve endured such heartbreak after losing a child…

If you, or someone you know, would like to talk about your experience with miscarriage, stillbirth and newborn death, or find support to help you, contact SANDS by visiting their website, www.sandsorg.au or calling them on (03) 8652 5020.

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