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Five former Health Secretaries call for memorial to tens of thousands of stillborn babies buried in unmarked mass graves
10 December 2024, 07:47
Five former Health Secretaries are backing calls for a national memorial to remember the tens of thousands of stillborn babies buried in mass graves around England.
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An LBC investigation has unearthed a culture of parents being routinely lied to about where their stillborn babies were being buried, with at least 89,000 known to be piled up in unmarked, mass graves around the country.
Former Health Secretaries Jeremy Hunt, Andy Burnham, Stephen Dorrell, Alan Johnson and Therese Coffey have all voiced their support for a memorial to remember the babies buried in these graves.
Jeremy Hunt was the Health Secretary between 2012 and 2018, he told LBC: "It's utterly shocking. I, frankly, can see how thirty, forty, fifty years ago life was a bit cheaper and some awful things happened in health services all over the world, but I think this was going on until really quite recently, including, I fear, during the period where I was Health Secretary. It's very important that it's now come to light and will be dealt with.
"It's absolutely heart-rending. I wasn't aware of this issue. I was aware of a slightly different issue that it wasn't possible to get birth certificates for a stillborn child, and for many grieving parents a recognition that their baby existed. It's still not possible for stillborn children, but you can now get a baby loss certificate which allows you to formally register that this child existed, but there's clearly more to do.
"What needs to happen now is the department of health needs to talk to these parents and say, "would it be something that would help you to have a 'tomb of the unknown baby' sort of thing, and if it would help them in their grief then we should absolutely pursue it."
Former Health Secretary, and now Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, told LBC: "I think it's a troubling revelation for everyone to take on board, that there are those graves with all of those lost lives.
"For any parent who's been through that experience, any mother who's had a still birth, it will be a traumatic thing for the rest of their life. Then to have these revelations it brings it back.
"We are working closely with the leader of Oldham Council to start to find out everything that is possible to find out. I think that's the main thing isn't it, having honesty from the authorities as to why these graves were there, which organisations were using those sites, giving people as much truth as we can possibly get, and then perhaps supporting parents with a permanent location, an appropriate location to go.
"I think there's a lot more to come out on this and we need to work to get maximum disclosure, maximum transparency and then an appropriate solution that comes from it."
In September we reported on the discovery of a mass grave in Royton Cemetery which contains the remains of 145 stillborn infants, 128 babies and young children and 29 adults.
Oldham Council has told LBC it now plans to place permanent memorials in the borough’s seven cemeteries to remember babies, children and adults who were buried in unmarked graves.
"Over the coming weeks, memorial plinths – each inscribed with a poignant verse – and benches where relatives and friends can sit peacefully with their thoughts, will be installed at council burial sites.
"The plinths and benches were chosen after conversations were held with several families, who have all requested privacy and confidentiality.
Councillor Arooj Shah, Leader of Oldham Council, said: “The last few months must have been horrible for anyone who has discovered their relative was buried in an unmarked grave.
“Our thoughts and sympathies continue to go out to them.
“Sadly, the burying of people - including babies and children - in unmarked communal graves happened in cemeteries across the country for many years.
“Thankfully, this no longer happens, but it is wrong there was no acknowledgement of this in our cemeteries.
“Over the last few months, we have looked at a range of options for the memorials, including one in a central location. We’ve taken our time as we want to get it right.
“After listening to the views of the affected families we believe having somewhere discreet at each burial site, where people can sit down and quietly reflect and remember is the best way.
“Hopefully families affected by the insensitive practices of the past can now take some comfort knowing that soon there will be a place for them to come where their loss is acknowledged and remembered.”
Cemetery staff will put the first memorials in place over the coming weeks.
A candlelit vigil for the babies will be taking place in Royton on Sunday at 3pm.
