I wasn't able to watch this without interruption, so I wasn't clear on the procedure she had. Did she have an abortion? Her mother came to visit, would she have been open to letting her mother know about it?
Overall it was a melancholy movie, no? Even though the ending was hopeful, it wasn't terribly uplifting.
As a side mention, the young Rachel, Woodward and Newman's daughter, was a beautiful little girl. It made me sad to think that such a beautiful little girl could grow up to be so sad. (I'm referring to the little girl as a character, not as a real person in case I'm not saying it right.)
Echo: it's no surprise for her to grow into someone so maudlin. When you grow up in isolation, you get used to the status quo. Her big mistake was going back home after college to take care of her mother.