Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Lily’s parents call for change in law
A DUNDEE family who missed out on receiving a birth certificate for their daughter by two days have called for a change in the law.
Nicole and Ryan Oliver’s baby daughter Lily Harper Oliver was delivered in October last year.
However, she had tragically passed away in the womb.
Nicole and Ryan, of Lochee, were not given a birth certificate because Nicole’s pregnancy had not reached 24 weeks, which is in line with current NHS policy.
They said they have spoken out in the hope that their story can contribute to a change in the law that would see families given birth certificates for babies born before that time.
Nicole today told the Tele they would have liked to have received a certificate to make sure there was a record of Lily.
The 20-year-old civil servant said: “We were two days off 24 weeks so we didn’t get a birth certificate for her.
“It is just the fact that after we aren’t here, there is nothing to show that she was here either — she won’t be on our family tree. There is nothing to show that she was here — but her heart was beating at one point.
“You don’t get anything say that you had a baby at one point.”
Nicole said she believes the policy should be changed to whenever the baby registers a heartbeat.
She added: “Lily was here — she had 10 fingers, 10 toes. She was a fully formed baby. We think that it should be as soon as a heartbeat is registered that you should get a birth certificate.
“Lily was only two days away from being 24 weeks and we would have gotten one.
“I think it is a taboo subject, but it is something that is really important.” to
The couple said they had received a lot of help from support group Angel Wings.
Nicole said: “They reached out to us and provided us clothes to bury Lily in. You can’t really get clothes that small in baby shops so it took a huge load off of us. We didn’t even need to contact them. They got in touch with us and sorted everything out.”
The couple also said they had received “the best treatment” from midwives in Ninewell’s Tulip Room, where Nicole gave birth.
Ryan, 24, who works as a joiner added: “The midwives were amazing.”
The Olivers have called on people to sign a petition to the Department of Health which would see the cut-off reduced from 24 weeks to 20. They said that it would be “a step in the right direction”.
The petition has 125,722 supporters and can be accessed at Change.org.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Stillbirth Group has had early discussions about the feasibility of offering a non-statutory certificate of birth which could be circulated to all maternity units. This would be based on the form currently produced by the charity Sands.”