'Today couldn't come soon enough': Baby loss certificates to be offered to more bereaved parents

A mother from Warwickshire has spoken of her relief at being able to officially recognise the loss of her baby in early pregnancy.

Rebekah Stocker and her husband James from Coleshill were told at their 12 week scan that they had lost their baby who they had named Joa.

The lack of an official certificate or any recognition that they’d been expecting a child, was difficult to bear.

Rebekah said:"It is real for you from the moment that you find out you are having a baby. The instant that it's taken away for you, your entire world and everything comes crashing down.

"My midwife was actually so lovely. She stopped the scan and said: 'I'm so sorry, but your baby's heart has stopped beating'.

"She just changed my life just in that moment."

Around one in five women in the UK experience the loss of a pregnancy before 24 weeks. After 24 weeks the loss is classed as a stillbirth and that has been officially registered for some time.

In February the law changed allowing parents like Rebekah who’d experienced baby loss before 24 weeks to apply for a certificate.

But it only applied to parents who had had a baby before 2018.

Today that has now been extended to anyone who's lost a baby before 24 weeks, however long ago their loss may have been.

Rebekah remembers the day her baby loss certificate arrived through the letterbox.

"I didn't realise what it would mean to me and holding the certificate and seeing Joa's name, that's when it really hit me how much I needed this.

"It really helped and I think until you hold that in your hands, you don't realise, you don't realise the significance."

Rebekah says having the certificate will also help her to tell her three other children about baby Joa as they grow up.

On today's extension of the law she said: "There are sometimes women that are in their 80's and even older who may never have spoken about their loss because it just wasn't a thing then.

"They've never allowed themselves to acknowledge that loss and maybe now they can.

"It was a really healing experience to hold that certificate in my hands. And I'm just so glad that there'll be women now all across England who get to do the same thing."

Zoe and Andy Clark-Coates lost five babies in all. It prompted them to start a charity, the Mariposa Trust, for others in the same boat and today’s announcement comes after years of campaigning by them both.

Zoe said: "We are absolutely thrilled. When we launched this campaign ten years ago now, it was the hope that it would be available to every bereaved family.

"And when it came to pass in February, obviously there was a time limit. You could only apply if your loss was up until September 2018, and we knew that was temporary.

"But still we were desperate for it to be renewed because we knew millions of families were desperate for this certificate.

"So today couldn't come soon enough. And we're absolutely delighted."

Andy told us: "The thing about the certificate is for many people, it's the first time they will have had any formal recognition. Often it's the first time their baby's name will ever have been written down on a piece of paper.

"So it's one of those jaw dropping moments to actually be there where you actually go, I've actually got this certificate. It can go into my family records. My baby existed outside of just my family. The government are actually recognizing my baby. "

Zoe addded: "As an organisation, we support over 50,000 people a week. That's a lot of hurting people who are crying out for this recognition and this piece of paper in their hands. And we have received thousands of emails since it came to pass in February from people just saying it's made so much difference.

"All of them have said exactly the same thing: 'This is something I longed for. I never thought was going to happen, and to be able to have it will make so much difference to my grieving journey.'

To request a baby loss certificate visit www.gov.uk/request-baby-loss-certificate

For more information, advice and support about baby loss visit Saying Goodbye