Miscarriage baby certificate

[LER2023]

I know this may be very hard for some and possibly a relief for others but i wanted to share.

From september 2018, if anyone has had a miscarriage before 24 weeks (and i believe a stillbirth) you can get a certificate for your baby which may help for closure and grief for mums out there.

If you search on google for miscarriage certificate. Its all done through the gov.uk website and thought it was a really nice idea to still recognise our babies as a big part of our life.

You will be sent a certificate in the post to recognise those babies who have felt so much love and happiness for a short time who have never been able to have a loving snuggle on the outside🩷🩵

Sending all my love to all those who have lost babies and currently going through the loss!💐

I just went to request this as I've had 4 miscarriages but it is only in England & I'm in wales :(

Amazing news! How incredible to be acknowledged!

Im so sorry, i thought it was all across😔

I lost my babies pre 2018 so it’s not for us but I’m so pleased that others will be getting that validation and acknowledgment of their loss 🥰

I watched an interview yesterday and they are going to extend this to dates before 2018 but are just doing it in waves to ensure the system doesn't crash. You will definitely be able to apply. Am so sorry for your losses x

Does anyone know what information is put on the certificate? Is the baby’s name included? Reason for loss/miscarriage? Any dates?

I've just applied for one. The form asked for baby's name, sex, date and location of loss. But they are all optional so if you had an early loss and didn't name them then you don't have to have it on. There is nothing about reason for loss.

Thank you so much. That’s really useful to know.

If you don't know the sex can you put unknown? I never named any of mine so could I put baby last name?

If you say you don't know the sex it says that section will be left blank. Which is different to birth certificates I think as that has the option of 'indeterminate'.

You can use any name, it suggests you could use a nickname if you didn't name them. So Baby Surname would be absolutely fine.

It gives an option for you to say 'I don't know' for everything pretty much. So it asks if you want to include a specific date or location but also has a 'I don't know' box. I have no idea what the actual certificate will look like, whether it will be similar to a birth certificate or completely different.

Hello. Those of you who have used it what evidence does it ask for/how does it verify. I had a miscarriage in 2020 at around 7 weeks but because of Covid fears didn’t get seen by anybody hence it’s not on my medical records

@Janew1987 I haven't applied but the interview I watched said it was an honesty scheme with no access to medical records so it doesn't matter if you didn't go to hospital as they are not completing checks and you don't need to submit evidence x

@Janew1987 I applied for my certificate on the day it was announced - you don't need to provide any evidence, you just fill in the details and it assumes everything you're putting in is honest/accurate. If you know your NHS number they use that to check your name and address details, but otherwise there's no checking against medical records.

@lifeisawillow3 The BBC reported the other day that there are plans for a similar scheme in Wales so hopefully it won't be too long before you can get something to acknowledge your losses too. ❤️