Still Born Children

[stanmapstone]

The gestational age at which a foetus was deemed capable of a separate existence  was fixed at 28 weeks by the Infant Life Preservation Act 1929, and remained unchanged until 1992.
(2)For the purposes of this Act, evidence that a woman had at any material time been pregnant for a period of twenty-eight weeks or more shall be prima facie proof that she was at that time pregnant of a child capable of being born alive. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/19-20/34/section/1/enacted
See also http://www.btinternet.com/~DEvans_23/legislat.htm
Stan

[Guy Etchells]

A few years earlier actually by the  Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1926.

""still-born" and "still-birth" shall apply to any child which has issued forth from its mother after the twenty-eighth week of pregnancy and which did not at any time after being completely expelled from its mother, breathe or show any other signs of life."
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~framland/acts/1926Act.htm
Cheers
Guy

[Guy Etchells]

Hi all,

Just a quick question, going through some cemetery records online (www.deceasedonline.com) I've come across a record for "S B C of Ada Salmon" in 1910 I take it that "S B C" refers to Still Born Child but I can't find any relevant birth or death registrations to fit which has led to the question were Still Born Children registered?

BourneGooner

As previously stated stillbirths were not required to be registered as they did not live outside of the mother. However the position regarding the burial of stillborn infants is not as clear cut.
There was much confusion whether the details had to be registered in burial registers when the body of a stillborn infant was buried. Some vicars would register the event others would not. Thomas Cromwell's original order stated "And shall there inserte euy psons (persons) name that shalbe so weddid  christened or buried" similar conditions were repeated in later Acts including those of the commonwealth period and the various revenue Stamp Acts..
The Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1874 specifically mentioned still births and the Suggestions for Guidance to the Clergy in discussing still born infants stated-
"...and it would be well to have a record kept of all burials of alleged still-born infants".
Cheers
Guy

[stanmapstone]

It is now 24 weeks.
Still-Birth (Definition) Act 1992
(1)In section 12 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1926 (definitions) and section 41 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 (interpretation), in the provisions which relate to the meaning of “still-born child” for the words “twenty-eighth week”, in both places where they occur, there shall be substituted “ twenty-fourth week ”. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992/29/section/1

Stan

[ambers]

I was surprised to see that some couples put a death in the paper for their stillborn child....noting that the child was stillborn.

Ambers

[Guy Etchells]

I think many people who have not been touched by still birth in the family forget that to the couple concerned the stillbirth is not an isolated event but as with live births the culmination of nine months planning and anticipation.
In many cases the authorities handling of the birth of the still born baby is too "efficient" and abrupt.
The parents require time to bond and start to come to terms with the death of their baby, time which unfortunately is seldom afforded.

Some couples use announcements in newspapers, some celebrate the birthday of their child on each anniversary of the death, others unfortunately feel they cannot talk about their baby and quietly grieve by themselves for decades.

In my wife's family they felt they could not mention Walter (my mother in laws stillborn son) in case they upset her. Unfortunately the opposite was true it was the fact that no one acknowledged the existence of the child she carried in her womb for nine months that hurt and punished her.

Please if faced with the anguish of a still birth talk to the baby's parents, if a name has been chosen use the baby's name, be a friend and above all listen.
Please don't use euphemisms like lost the parents haven't lost their child he/she has died.
Cheers
Guy

[ambers]

I was only surprised by the entries because I hadn't come across it before. None of the children that I came across had been named though.

Often people do not want to upset the parents by mentioning the birth, and actually can cause more damage by ignoring the fact of what has happened to them and their baby.

It happens a lot, people cross over the road instead of acknowledging the bereaved party, leaving them very lonely and sad.

Ambers.

[Luzzu]

Excellent and worthwhile initiative Guy.  Just been reading about your project in FTM November.

On our Manchester General Cemetery project, we have one instance of a stillborn male infant who was named.  He was buried in the family grave and he was included on the gravestone inscription.  However, in the Burial Register the entry is "still born child of Mr ...". This was in 1842.  We think this is very rare.

Luzzu

[rancegal]

I was surprised to see that some couples put a death in the paper for their stillborn child....noting that the child was stillborn.

Ambers

Well for one thing, it saves parents from the anguish of having to tell people over and over again!
 If you go to the children's section of a cemetery, the gravestones of stillborn and neo-natal death babies are heartrending