Any parent in England who has lost a baby before 24 weeks of pregnancy will now be able to apply for a formal certificate recording their bereavement, the Government has announced.
The baby loss certificate scheme, introduced in February, was initially available only to parents who had experienced baby loss after September 2018.
That cut-off date will no longer apply.
Announcing the change, the Department of Health and Social Care said more than 50,000 people had already received certificates under the voluntary scheme.
Kate Davies, Associate Director of Information and Support at Tommy’s, the pregnancy and baby charity, said:
“At Tommy’s we hear from parents who have struggled for decades with the grief of losing a baby but whose bereavement has never been properly acknowledged because it happened before 24 weeks of pregnancy, or because baby loss simply wasn’t talked about at that time.
“The extension of the certificate scheme will allow those parents to seek at least some comfort through a formal recognition of their loss, however many years it may be since their lives were changed by it.
“We know the scheme has already made a difference to thousands of people who have experienced pregnancy loss since 2018 and who might previously have felt their babies were forgotten in the world.
“We’ll continue to call for more fundamental changes to tackle the wider problem of baby loss – including improvements to miscarriage care and a Government commitment to gather and record UK-wide miscarriage statistics.
“We need that accurate information about how many people are affected by miscarriage and who is most at risk, so that research and support services can be directed most effectively towards preventing pregnancy loss.”
Certificates are available for people who have lost a baby before 24 weeks of pregnancy, or before 28 weeks if their loss happened earlier than October 1992. You can apply if you are over 16 and live in England.
People in Scotland can already apply to have their loss recorded in the Memorial Book of Pregnancy and Baby Loss Prior to 24 Weeks, and receive a certificate of inclusion in the book.
We've put together some FAQs with more information on the process.
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