UK government apologises over stillborn babies buried in mass graves
Health Secretary Yvette Cooper apologised in the House of Commons to parents whose stillborn babies were buried in shared graves without their knowledge. More than 1,000 babies were buried across Wirral and over 270 in Oldham.
The UK government has issued a "profound apology" to parents whose stillborn babies were buried in mass graves without their knowledge. Health Secretary Yvette Cooper made the apology in the House of Commons, the lower house of parliament, on Monday evening. She spoke of the "unthinkable pain" caused by the historic practice.
How many babies were buried
In north-west England, more than 1,000 babies were buried in unmarked graves across Wirral in Merseyside. A mass burial ground in Oldham also contained more than 270 babies.
Before the 1980s, it was common for hospital staff to take stillborn babies away from their mothers and bury them in communal graves.
One mother's story
Gina Jacobs, from Wirral, did not find out where her son Robert had been buried until 53 years after he was stillborn in 1969. She was not allowed to see or hold him. She believed he had been buried with an adult whose funeral took place at about the same time.
After watching a BBC report about another bereaved mother, Jacobs began searching. She later discovered that Robert lay in a shared grave with more than 60 other babies. She described what happened as "inhumane".
Jacobs called hearing the apology "amazing". She now wants to meet the health secretary to seek answers on behalf of parents who are still searching for their babies.
