THE DEPARTMENT OF Health will be asked to consider the possibility of making certificates available to parents who lose an unborn child in the first six months of pregnancy.
Currently, children who are stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy can be registered as a stillbirth, but there is no provision for any registration outside of the criteria for a stillbirth.
Senator Regina Doherty and Senator Mary Seery Kearney have proposed an amendment to legislate for a voluntary scheme.
At a Cabinet meeting yesterday, Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys asked Government ministers not to oppose the bill, which is currently at its second stage in the Seanad and would then come before the Dáil.
The proposal would see allow for the voluntary registration of a death of an unborn child by a medical practitioner where the foetus does not meet the requirements for a stillbirth registration – that is, where they are below a required minimum weight of 500g and had not reached the period of gestation of 24 weeks.
It would create a new form of registration and include the issuing of a commemorative “certificate of life” with the aim of giving some comfort to the family and to allow future generations to trace family members.
The Department of Health will be asked to give further consideration to the matter.
If the proposal is deemed likely to move ahead, the department will consult with the General Registration Office on how to implement the new type of registration.
The existing system for stillbirth certificates allows online or in-person applications and carries a charge of €20, according to the HSE.
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