After a perinatal bereavement, a new pregnancy is never just a “new pregnancy,” but a complex time, inhabited by conflicting emotions: desire and fear, hope and alertness, presence and absence, fullness and emptiness coexist in us, which can really put us to the test.
Indeed, many women and couples recount that even when the pregnancy is progressing well, the body and mind remain suspended in a state of constant vigilance. Anxiety can appear very early, often as early as the first weeks, accompany the entire expectancy, and linger even after birth. Anxiety in pregnancy is an intrusive and very tiring companion: feeling for months at the mercy of the waves and not being able to fully appreciate what we are experiencing, as we would have expected, takes away a lot of our energy and makes us feel weak, ungrateful toward life, and sometimes even wrong because of our reactions. Missing our children, during the new expectation and especially after the birth, is also felt more: some parents report that it is like “being back to the beginning,” when “the lack took our breath away.” New parenting is a bittersweet challenge: mourning makes evident what we have lost and becomes more pointed at times, while joy sits a bit quietly, as if afraid to fully manifest itself.
The Rainbow Project, created in 2022, is designed for women and couples who are expecting again, as a dedicated and protected space to better cope with pregnancy and parenting after perinatal bereavement: while it is true that conflicting emotions, alertness and anxiety are very common in subsequent pregnancies, it is equally true that it is possible to learn how to manage and scale them back with the proper tools, so as to better enjoy the new experience. The room for improvement is quite wide, as Eli, Ele, Ali, Simo, Mich, Aless, Ste, Gabri, Giusep and many other parents who took part in the project tell us.
The heart of the Project is the accompaniment meetings for the next pregnancy, designed for both parents, respecting each one’s time, stories and resources.
Listen
how hard your heart beats meWislawa Szymborska
The meetings of the Rainbow Pathway
Taking time to share the experience we are going through together with other parents who have a similar story to ours, in a group journey dedicated to pregnancy and parenting after perinatal bereavement is an important opportunity to cultivate our well-being and balance, as people first, as a couple, and as parents.
The meetings of the Rainbow are held online, live and last about two hours: in each meeting, topics related to the new experience of waiting and parenting are addressed, using sharing tools, psychoeducation, and practical activities, with the goal of:
- naming and learning to recognize what happens during a pregnancy after a loss;
- Understanding and learning to manage the emotional and bodily responses related to the painful memories of perinatal bereavement;
- Supporting the couple’s relationship;
- Approaching parenting in a safer, warmer and more welcoming way
The tools we use for the project are: psychoeducation, mindfulness, art therapy, and picture book bibliotherapy, simple but extremely effective tools for increasing well-being in pregnancy and parenting after perinatal bereavement.
Between meetings, some weekly exercises accompany the journey and can become resources to be used even after birth.
Why involve both parents
After perinatal bereavement, couples often face waiting with different experiences, sometimes difficult to share. Involving both parents means creating a space where these differences can be acknowledged and welcomed, without judgment and protecting the psychological well-being of both.
The Rainbow Project was born out of the experience of parents who have been there, and the belief that taking care of the parental relationship is a key part of perinatal health, especially after a loss.
A look at the first thousand days
Pregnancy and the early years of life represent a precious time for the health and well-being of families. After a perinatal bereavement, this time requires special and prolonged care. The Rainbow Project fits into this framework, accompanying the new expectancy and the first thousand days with attention to the emotional needs of parents and children, without unrealistic expectations or forcing.
Practical information
The Rainbow Project takes place online, on CiaoLapo’s Moodle platform.
Group meetings take place on Zoom.
Each group has a reserved space for discussion between meetings.
The project is led by psychotherapists who are experts in perinatal psychology, perinatal bereavement and mindfulness.
Participation is restricted to CiaoLapo members and associates, subject to a mandatory acquaintance interview.
“The course is designed to deal together with the fears and anxieties of waiting after a bereavement and to find together useful strategies and resources to improve the well-being of both the couple and the incoming baby/children.My husband and I are glad we participated; many things we learned in the course are useful even now, that our Elisa is two years old.”
The Rainbow Pathway is a pathway to support and promote the well-being in the first thousand days, of parents and baby: it does not replace obstetrical cut birth accompaniment courses, obstetrical-gynecological specialist medical examinations or ongoing drug therapies.
New 2026: mindfulness video course for stress management in the first six months of pregnancy
The first weeks of a pregnancy after a bereavement are often the most difficult: it is the time of uncertainty, of checks and balances, of silent waiting, in which it can be complicated to find spaces to speak and share. For these reasons from April 2026 the Rainbow project is enriched with a video course dedicated to stress management: an accessible course that can be taken at one’s own pace, designed to offer daily mindfulness practices useful for recognizing and modulating the anxiety, hyper-alertness and intense emotions that often emerge at the beginning of waiting. The video course is open and recommended for both parents, together or separately, because rainbow pregnancy is about the couple, even when the experiences are different.
For information: info@ciaolapo.it
