Debate contribution: Baby Loss Certificate Scheme and Pathology Service

Debate contribution by Mrs Linda Dillon on 15 April 2024.

MLA: Mrs Linda Dillon
Party at the time: Sinn Féin
Date: 15 April 2024
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Private Members' Business
Heading: Baby Loss Certificate Scheme and Pathology Service
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 4483182

Text

I begin, like others, by thanking Kellie for sharing her very personal story about the loss of her babies. As others have mentioned, we are thinking of all the families who have suffered the loss of a child or children. Over the past week, I have spoken to numerous people who have reached out to me to talk about the need for a baby loss certificate. I am pleased to hear that there is a large degree of consensus during the debate, and I hope that it means that the Finance Minister will be able to implement the certificate sooner rather than later. I thank the Minister for her positive response during Question Time last week to a question about the baby loss certificates. There are no words to describe how much it will mean to parents and families who have suffered the loss to have official recognition of their loss and official acknowledgement that the child existed and was and is a part of their family. It is important to recognise that many organisations and families have found ways to acknowledge and remember their children. I will specifically mention the Remember Me registry, and one of the babies on it is baby Peter Carberry from Coalisland. He is the firstborn son of Shauna and Tony Carberry. Because they lost him pre 24 weeks, there was no birth or death certificate. They had to ask for the remains of their precious son to be returned to them for burial, something that should happen naturally where there are remains. That happened 23 years ago, but he was and is very much part of their family and will never be forgotten. The Remember Me registry has a "Little Angels" page that provides a memorial space for babies, a baby loss certificate and a QR code for their memorial place, if they have one. It provides comfort in the absence of anything else. When Shauna was pregnant with her last son, she went into pre-term labour and had a meeting at her bedside to advise her and Tony that, if labour continued that day and the baby was born before midnight, it would be a miscarriage: nothing. If born after midnight, birth and death would be registered. It was the most horrible night and will never be forgotten. Thankfully, Ross did survive. I know him, and he is a beautiful, healthy 15-year-old boy. Had he not got through that day, there would be no official record that he ever existed. I hope that we will support this: everyone who wishes for it should have the opportunity to have a baby loss certificate. There should be a straightforward application process for all those who want it. On the paediatric pathology, it is important that we have a service on this island so that families do not have to put their babies on a plane to go to England. It is very important. We have lost members of our family, and, thankfully — not that you would say "thankfully" — it was many years ago when we had paediatric pathology. I cannot imagine how they would have felt if they had to put their baby on a plane to England. It is important that, somehow, we find a way to have a service on this island for the families who need it, because it would be unbearable to put your child on a plane when all you want to do is take them home and bury them.

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

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