Mom’s heart-wrenching video about wearing a weighted bear after stillbirth goes viral

Cora Bryant sadly experienced a stillborn birth at 37 weeks, and in her TikTok video, she shares how one unexpected thing helped her with the grieving processes and helped to regulate her body: Babywearing a weighted teddy bear stuffed animal, which she called, “Bear-wearing.”

She begins her video with her in her bathroom getting ready for her husband’s twin’s engagement party while babywearing a weighted teddy bear, and she says, “Another day of bear-wearing because my baby is not here.”

“I low-key love the Solly Wrap,” she continued, “I would recommend it. I cannot wait to wear it with a living baby in it because I think I’m a pro at this.”

“It’s actually very comforting,” Bryant said. She added that she hadn’t put it on because she “couldn’t stop sobbing” and that it regulated her nervous system so much that she was unable to cry anymore. “I can’t stop bawling my eyes out,” she said. And heartbreakingly added that nobody wants to see her looking that rough when she showed up to the engagement party.

“This is one of my first actual outings that’s not about me and Weylyn, so this is going to be really hard,” she shared. Bryant said she had another outing tomorrow and she’d see how she’d cope.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stillbirth affects about 1 in 175 births, and each year about 21,000 babies are stillborn in the United States.¹ That is about the same as the number of babies that die during the first year of life. Because of advances in medical technology over the last 30 years, prenatal care (medical care during pregnancy) has improved, which has dramatically reduced the number of late and term stillbirths. However, the rate of early stillbirth has remained about the same over time.

A weighted bear is a common therapeutic remembrance gift after suffering pregnancy loss or a stillbirth. The bears are typically a similar size and weight for a stillborn preemie or newborn and can help ease the physical need grieving moms have to hold their baby.

This video follows another post she shared with her followers documenting the loss of her son with photos of Weylyn, whom she called her “little bear.” 

“I’m going to miss you forever,” she began the tribute video, with the caption, “I wish I had enjoyed every moment with you more. I never thought pregnancy would be my only time with you.”