Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on this Bill. I thank Senators Doherty and Seery Kearney for introducing it. I pay tribute to Caroline and Martin Smith, who were in contact with us about Bill that was debated last year about reproductive health leave and the amendments tabled on Committee Stage earlier this year.I want to pay tribute to the tenacity, perseverance and work of Caroline and Martin. I am thinking of Elaine and her family, Jacinta and her family, and all those in Féileacáin who have been campaigning on this issue for a considerable time. We were very glad to be able to put forward an amendment in our own Bill earlier this year but I am heartened to hear that we have a stand-alone Bill on this issue of a certificate of life and a non-statutory register with regard to stillbirth and early pregnancy loss. It is very important that the Government takes this up and just gets on with it.

In much of the correspondence we have had, there is that plea for recognition by families who have been devastated by miscarriage and stillbirth. There was hardly a dry eye in the House listening to Senator Seery Kearney and her devastating experience. It is the stories we have come across in terms of that loss and the cruelty of what seems like an arbitrary definition of stillbirth despite what it would seem to the family at the time. There is the shock that one mother described to me of learning that her baby, who came out perfectly formed, will not be recognised like any other baby just because they did not meet that threshold of 500 g or the 24 weeks when they were born. Another parent describes that unnecessary torture of knowing that the siblings or other family members would not have access to the information about that baby in times to come. I very much welcome this as a stand-alone Bill. I hope it proceeds quickly and that some peace and solace is given to those families who have had to suffer that devastating loss.

A lack of a commemorative certificate is just one of a number of injustices associated with pregnancy loss. In particular, I want to make the point that Ireland is out of step with other countries. Most other European Union countries have a definition of stillbirth. Like Senator O’Loughlin, I listened yesterday to Professor Keelin O'Donoghue, Riona Cotter and Mairie Cregan of Féileacáin talk about the disparities between the definition in Ireland and elsewhere. In particular, we know that almost 60% of EU countries have a definition of stillbirth at 22 weeks. I want to very much support the call by the pregnancy loss research group and the National Perinatal Epidemiology Centre for a change in the definition of stillbirth in Ireland to bring it to 22 weeks and 400 g. I know the HSE has a recommendation from 2021 that it be 23 weeks and 400 g, but 23 weeks seems a bit unusual because there are so few other countries that have it at 23 weeks. It is three decades or more since we last updated the definition of stillbirth. My appeal to the Minister of State is that the Department of Health needs to look at this sooner rather than later. Obviously, a change in definition does not provide any great solace to those who have lost a baby, but it does mean they have access to the statutory stillbirth register and, importantly, entitlement to maternity and paternity leave. It would mean greater provision is made for those who lose babies coming to the 22 weeks or at the 400 g birth weight.

To conclude, I very much welcome the Bill. It is simple and straightforward. For all those families, there is a mechanism and a proposal here to ensure there is recognition for their loss. As I said, I urge the Government to move on this as soon as possible.