As Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Month begins Féileacáin warmly welcomes the new legislative changes to support families who have sadly experienced a stillbirth. These changes include a reduction in the criteria for a precious stillborn baby which reflects the advances in clinical care, a broadening of access to the Register of Stillbirths and the establishment of an optional public Record of Stillbirths. When Féileacáin formed in 2009 one of our aims was the opening of the Stillbirth Register so it is with immense pride that bereaved parents are now being given the opportunity to make their baby’s record public if they wish to do so. If you choose to start this process please email the General Register Office at StillBirthRecords@welfare.ie We would like to thank every single bereaved parent who has campaigned for this important change in recognition for all our babies. We would also like to thank Minister Humphreys for giving us the opportunity to share our stories on behalf of all bereaved parents and their beautiful babies.

“One of the areas which we have carefully considered is how we can support families impacted by the devastating loss of a stillborn baby and I want to sincerely thank the parents and advocacy groups for working with us in relation to these reforms. In particular, I want to thank Féileacáin for their engagement with me on this Bill” – Minister Humphreys

The new definition for a stillborn baby is that the baby weighs not less than 400grammes or has a gestational age of not less than 23 weeks and shows no sign of life. If your baby now meets this criteria you can choose to register them retrospectively at your local civil register office. For those whose precious baby sadly does not meet the criteria at this time please know that Féileacáin will always campaign that the advances in clinical care are reflected in this legislation.

For more information please visit https://www.gov.ie/en/service/e6c3d6-registering-a-stillbirth/