Motion before parliament to change date at which stillbirth is recognised.

[Armadale]

I have been so moved today listening to Tim Loughton's speech in the House of Commons trying to change the date at which a stillbirth is recognised.

Transcript here

We lost our oldest son at 20 weeks and the treatment and general ignorance of the hospital treating us was so cruel and unnecessary. There was absolutely no understanding of the fact that we were grieving parents.

They advised us not to see the baby, no pictures or casts were taken and they told us a funeral was not needed, they would dispose of the body. All we were given was a badly photocopied form noting his loss, on which they spelt our name wrong, crossed it out in biro and rewrote it.

I really hope this bill gets passed.

It is the first time in a long time I can remember thinking a politician has really ever done anything that impacts my life in a positive way.

That's made me cry...

We lost our baby girl at 19 weeks on New Year's Day last year, and although the hospital were helpful, and put me in touch with a counsellor, my employer's (and also DH's) reactions left a lot to be desired (although I have since complained to a new HR manager about their "policies" and she was horrified at the way they treated me).

Sorry for your loss Armadale, and your awful treatment at the hospital.

Hopefully our babies will get the recognition they deserve.

Thanks for posting this. I hadn't spotted this in the press.
This is so important. Our twins were born at 23 weeks. DD was twin 1 and she was stillborn but DS was alive at birth.
So on top of the horror of losing our children we then were in the position of only being able to register one of them.
Thankfully we had a fantastic bereavement midwife who came to the appointment with us and helped us through it and also provided us with her own certificate for DD, but it's not the same.

Can I ask those of you who have been through a 2nd trimester loss where you think the cut-off between late loss and stillbirth should be?
The cynical part of me thinks it probably has a lot to do with our abortion laws, and also at what gestation the medics think a baby is viable, though I take on board what the statement said about that getting earlier all the time.
I'm sorry for all of you that the way your loss was handled added to your pain. More compassion and understanding from the medical profession of the impact of a pregnancy loss at any stage is never a bad thing.