Oldham councillor calls for national memorial for mass grave babies

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Calls have been made for the creation of a national memorial by Maggie Hurley, an independent councillor for the area where a mass grave was found with the bodies of approximately 300 stillborn and miscarried babies. The unmarked burial site in Oldham, Greater Manchester, was discovered earlier this year by a woman searching for the graves of her twin brothers who died in 1962. At least 89,000 miscarried or stillborn babies have been confirmed so far to have been buried in mass graves around the country.

Before the 1980s, the bodies of stillborn and miscarried babies were often taken away by hospital workers from families who were not given any details of their resting place. Medical staff were known to give explanations such as telling bereaved parents their children would be placed alongside “a nice person” who was being buried that same day – often without giving them the opportunity to say goodbye.

Ms Hurley said the bodies of the babies were often interred in mass graves at cemeteries. The belief at that time was the best thing to do was not to look at it – don’t look at it, don’t hold it, you’ll get on better. Go and have another baby, we’ll deal with this, we’ll bury it today with someone who’s nice. It was a very different world then. However, the practice is now considered a “social injustice”.

Ms Hurley described the practice as a “social injustice” and called for the government to accept that this happened. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said the independent Law Commission was working on a project that was considering “improving burial records”. “Once published, we will consider their recommendations to create a framework for modern, consistent regulation across the system,” he said. Sunday’s service at St Paul’s Church honoured those buried and was for anyone affected by the issue. This has never been done before because it’s been hidden

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