Debate contribution: Baby Loss Certificate Scheme and Pathology Service

Debate contribution by Miss Nuala McAllister on 15 April 2024.

MLA

Miss Nuala McAllister

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

15 April 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Baby Loss Certificate Scheme and Pathology Service

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4483174

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank the Members who have spoken on what is a sensitive but very important issue. I also pay tribute to my colleague Kellie Armstrong. This is not the first time that I have heard Kellie speak out bravely about her own circumstances, but that is not commonplace for everyone, and the bravery of every woman who chooses to speak out must be commended. As Mark Durkan, who spoke previously, said, those who suffer alone and hide their grief by keeping it to themselves deal with it in their own way. Whether we, as legislators, can help those people cope individually is the matter that we are here to discuss. I thank everyone who has contributed to the debate, specifically on the baby loss certificates. Everyone in the Chamber knows someone who has lost that very much-wanted and loved child. Whether the loss happens at 12, six, 21 or 22 weeks, the issue remains the same: every one of those individuals mattered and was loved by the women who lost them. I also pay tribute to the midwives who take such precious care of the families who have lost a baby. That can take many forms. I know many midwives who have ensured, where they can, that they get those little handprints, snippets of hair or even just gently handle the women who are undergoing the loss. The care that our medical practitioners, such as those midwives, take is much appreciated by every single woman who has undergone a miscarriage. However, the service is simply not adequate, and I will touch on that. We need to ensure that we fully invest in our perinatal mental health services. For people who have lost, either through pregnancy or at stillbirth, those in that service need to ensure that they provide the appropriate level of care from day one right up until the people are ready to leave the service. I will now focus on the paediatric and perinatal pathology aspect of the motion. As has been mentioned, following the resignations in 2018, we heard many times from the Health Minister, both before and after the collapse of the Assembly, about the unsuccessful trawl for the reinstatement of those services. I must ask this: what is the plan? Are there any training opportunities? Is there a workforce plan for this service? Has a scoping exercise taken place, or is one being done to see whether people want to train and work in the pathology service here? If not, why not? We will support the motion and the amendment, but, like many others in the Chamber, I call on the Health Minister to address the issue in more detail, perhaps through another statement on how he can work in conjunction with the Minister of Finance. As others said, the issue should not be tackled through one Department alone. I look forward to perhaps hearing from the Health Minister, and, no doubt, his colleagues will express the sentiment of everyone in the Chamber. I thank the Members for tabling the motion and the amendment, both of which we will support.

515 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:00 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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