A senior government official has expressed deep regret over a decades-long medical practice where stillborn babies were buried in unmarked graves without families’ knowledge, leaving parents in the dark for years. The acknowledgment follows a campaign by bereaved families, including one woman from Wirral, who pushed for recognition of the emotional toll of the practice, which lasted from the 1930s to the 1980s. The apology highlights the lasting distress caused by the lack of closure for those affected, as hospitals systematically removed stillborn children for burial without informing parents. The admission comes as part of efforts to address historical medical practices that denied families basic dignity in their grief.
Yvette Cooper acknowledges ‘unthinkable pain’ caused by practice between 1930s and 1980s after campaign by Wirral woman and othersThe health secretary, Yvette Cooper, has issued a “profound apology” for the “unthinkable pain” caused to parents whose stillborn babies were buried in mass graves.Parents spent decades not knowing where their babies were buried, owing to a practice in which stillborn babies were taken from mothers at hospital and buried in communal graves. Continue reading...
