I want to make a petition so babies born before 24 weeks can be recognised as a stillbirth and not a miscarriage. I understand why babies are not registered as stillborn before then, there's the termination limit (but let's not go into that) and because most babies are not usually viable before 24 weeks. Despite this I still feel that babies born under 24 weeks should be given some sort of recognition, even if we can't legally class our babies as stillborn, what about a 'non viable stillbirth' rather than non viable fetus as it is just now. I'm sure I speak for all women/families who have given birth to babies under the 24 week mark and be told we had a miscarriage, it's insensitive.

Currently, only babies born after 24 weeks gestation can have their birth or still birth registered. A baby born stillborn, regardless of the circumstances, before 24 weeks cannot be registered and therefore goes unacknowledged by the country. Obviously, the families of these precious babies will remember them, but families should also be allowed to officially register the birth of their child, regardless of why they came early or how early they arrived. Not being able to can cause huge distress for families. Our children were here, they were alive, they had heartbeats. They were born and they deserve to be recognised in the official records of this country.

In September 2021 I lost our baby girl at 17 weeks. Because she was over the amount of weeks for a D&C or to miscarriage naturally the only option I had was to give birth. If this wasn’t heart breaking enough I then was told because she was less than 24 weeks I couldn’t register her birth. I saw our baby, held our baby and she was perfect. We were able to have a funeral for her which I was extremely grateful for however I couldn’t register her birth because she was less than 24 weeks. If a women has to give birth to their child before the 24 week stage she should have the choice whether to register her child. If I now check our family tree our daughter Daisy would not be on there, almost like she doesn’t exist which is far from the case. She was our daughter, a part of our family, she had a heartbeat until 17 weeks, she was alive. She was not just a fetus she was our baby!

Many parents who suffered a loss of a baby under 24 weeks gestation believe their baby and their loss is being clearly ignored like the baby never existed. It would help the parent if they were offered certificates acknowledging their baby. Even if before being able to tell the babies gender you could register them as baby and your surname.

According to the Identity and Passport office, while there is no requirement to register stillbirths before 24 weeks, many hospitals offer parents a certificate which recognises the loss of a baby. Such informal certificates enable individuals preferences to be met. The Government should make offering these certificates to all parents a legal requirement for all miscarried babies or babies who had to be terminated for medical reasons.