In this episode of the AllPaths Podcast, Matt Smith, founder of Wandering Soul Beer Company, shares his personal experience with stillbirth and how this profound loss directly inspired the creation of his brewery and its flagship beer, Melody Maker. Matt and his wife Abby were expecting their first child and had just purchased their first house when their journey took a tragic turn when their daughter, Melody, passed away at 35 and a half weeks gestation. Adding to the trauma of losing Melody, Abby had to undergo emergency surgery after Melody was delivered. Matt recounts being in the hospital, seeing Abby taken away, and wondering if he would ever see her again. This “double whammy sort of situation” left both he and Abby feeling broken and unsure where to turn. In the days and weeks following, Matt and Abby found help through friends, family, hospital teams, others who had experienced stillbirth, and AllPaths (then Resolve New England). Matt acknowledged how difficult it was to take the first step in seeking support and how isolating it all felt when some family and friends said nothing because they were afraid of saying the wrong thing.

Matt explains that his experience with Melody is directly tied to his work with Wandering Soul. His main beer, Melody Maker, is dedicated to her, with the story printed on the can. Creating Wandering Soul has allowed him to process many of his feelings, even though he sometimes feels like an "alien" in the typically "fun and happy beer" world. This unexpected platform has reached many people, prompting them to reach out with their own stories of grief and loss. Matt shares how he has realized the importance of being honest about how he is doing, contrasting it with a societal tendency to avoid talking about sadness, and is committed to honoring his daughter's memory, while raising awareness and normalizing discussions around grief through his openness with their story.

As Matt discusses how he and Abby continued to grow their family, the conversation underscores that grief is not linear and does not disappear just because they have gone on to have two living daughters. Matt and Abby make sure to talk about Melody with her sisters, acknowledging that she is just as much a part of their family as they are. By being open about Melody within their family and the larger community, Matt hopes he is helping to normalize conversations about grief and family building struggles, encouraging others to find community and realize they are not alone.

Connect with Matt at https://wanderingsoulbeer.com/story/

TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE:

Pregnancy loss, stillbirth, maternal near miss, grief, loss, communal grief, community support, hypervigilance, trauma response, family building support, pregnancy loss resources, stillbirth awareness, grieving process, parenting after loss, community support for families, emotional healing through grief, stories of loss and recovery, family building journeys, support for grieving parents, mental health and parenting, coping with stillbirth, raising awareness of pregnancy loss, Wandering Soul beer, grief and trauma response, connecting through shared experiences, navigating family building challenges, honoring lost children, pregnancy after loss, support for fathers in grief

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