Emily Kaiser, the mother who lost her baby in her arms, defends her exclusive social media comeback

There is no deeper sadness than the death of a child. It’s a loss that reshapes every part of a parent’s world.

And while the moment of loss is devastating, the days that follow – learning to accept and live with that loss – can feel just as impossible.

For Laney Miller, a 28-year-old mother from Kokomo, Indiana, losing her first son just five days after giving birth left a “lifelong impact” on her and her family.

During her pregnancy, Miller developed severe pre-eclampsia. This serious complication is often characterized by high blood pressure and protein in the urine.

As a result, the expectant mother was sent for an emergency caesarean section at just 26 weeks. Her daughter – weighing just 1 pound 9 ounces at birth. – I was airlifted to the NICU an hour away from the hospital where I gave birth.

“When my daughter first died, I was in complete shock,” Miller said. “After I was discharged from the hospital, I went home, lay on the couch, and cried uncontrollably for days.”

“She was our first child and we were so excited,” she added.

Despite her partner’s unwavering support, Miller admitted the couple was “drowning” in their grief. Unable to eat or sleep, she slowly fell into depression.

“After going through the pregnancy and birth and having so much hope that she would come home, it was devastating to leave the hospital empty-handed and return to a quiet home,” Miller said.

“The death of a child is a kind of grief that cannot be expressed in words. It is something that no one can understand until they have experienced it. It feels unnatural to everything in our biology, and it never makes sense.”

When it came time for her daughter’s funeral, Miller admitted she didn’t remember parts of it. In “survival mode,” all she could think about was the gender reveal party and how excited she was to have a baby girl.

“I had so many plans, and the life I had envisioned disappeared in an instant,” she says. “When you lose a child, you don’t just lose the present. You lose all the moments of their future: their first words, milestones, school dances, graduations, weddings.”

Miller couldn’t help but feel frustrated every time someone told her her little one was “in a better place.”

“I felt angry at the world, at God, at everyone. I cried every time I saw my C-section scar or my postpartum body,” she reveals. “It was a constant physical reminder that she was gone. Life felt unbearably unfair.”

When it came time to go back to work, Miller wasn’t ready, but she says she had no other choice. Eight weeks after her daughter’s death, she returned to her office.

“I’ve been dreading this day for weeks, but life doesn’t end when a child dies,” she emphasizes. “Bills still have to be paid and we still have to find a way to survive.”

Unfortunately, none of her co-workers knew the news, and Miller was bombarded with countless questions about her daughter and how she was doing.

“They didn’t realize that I had been grieving the entire time I was on maternity leave, and they thought I had just given birth prematurely,” Miller said. “The first few weeks were excruciating.”

Eventually, she threw herself into work to escape the pain, and her drive quickly earned her a promotion and allowed her to maintain a stable daily life. But when I found out I was pregnant, the sadness returned again.

“I felt scared. All the emotions I had hidden came to the surface all at once and I realized how much I had suppressed them in order to keep moving forward,” Miller admits.

Fortunately, Miller gave birth to a baby boy in March 2025, several years after losing her first child.

But just two months later, in May 2025, influencer Emily Kaiser’s 3-year-old son tragically drowned in her backyard pool. This heartbreaking loss unfolded online, leaving Miller deeply saddened.

As time went on, she quietly witnessed Kaiser being “harshly criticized” by the countless opinions and judgments that piled up on the 26-year-old’s platform.

“I don’t think the majority of people would treat people online, celebrities, influencers the same way they would treat their friends and family,” Miller said.

“Many people would say something behind the veil of a screen, but I don’t think they would ever say what they wanted to say in front of a grieving mother.”

On September 24, 2025, just four days after Kaiser officially returned to social media and four months after his son’s death, Miller addressed the backlash in a TikTok post, responding to comments calling Kaiser’s return “weird” and too soon.

“Everyone grieves differently, so I try not to compare my experience to anyone else’s. I feel so much love for her and her family during this time because I know the magnitude of the heartbreak she has endured,” Miller tells PEOPLE.

“It feels like her every move is being scrutinized, and I couldn’t imagine going through that on top of everything else she’s dealing with.”

After sharing her experience on social media, Miller began to realize how lucky she was to have been given a few weeks off after her tragic experience.

“Most workplaces don’t give special leave to parents who have lost a child,” she learned after reading countless comments from parents who had little time to grieve.

Some people return to work days after a stillbirth or death of a young child simply because their workplace does not allow them to do so anymore.

“That’s why it’s so important to speak up when given the platform,” she adds, hoping that by sharing uncomfortable truths, she can spur real change in the way child loss is treated in the workplace.

More than two years have passed since her daughter’s death, but Miller says it took her about eight months to realize the pain would never go away.

“Instead, you learn to live with it. You get used to carrying it around, if that makes sense,” she explains. “Ever since she passed away, I’ve thought about her every day and every night before I go to bed I think about the day I lost her.”

Never miss a news. Sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up to date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to human interest stories.

Now, Miller admits she still struggles with insomnia, but credits her partner with pulling her out of depression and giving her the motivation to keep going.

Since then, she’s found hobbies to keep her busy, including exercise, DIY projects around the house, and spending time together as a family of three.

“Grief is nothing like what you see in the movies. It’s messy, unpredictable, and there’s no one right way to get through it,” she says.

“Some days you may not be able to get out of bed, and other days you may have brunch with friends and laugh. Don’t feel guilty about living again.”