Memorial garden for buried babies

Stillborn babies used to be buried without ceremony

The graves of 42 stillborn babies found in a south Wales cemetery are to be marked with a memorial garden.

It is believed the babies were buried at Llantwit Major Cemetery in the Vale of Glamorgan between 1938 and 1980.

Twenty one of the babies had been born at the former RAF hospital at St Athan. Town councillor Russell Downe made the discovery after researching records.

It was common practice before the 1980s for stillborn children to be buried without a funeral service.

Parents were often not told where their baby had been buried.

A lot of the mothers never knew where their babies were buried Cllr Russell Downs

Efforts are now being made by members of Llantwit Major town council to construct a memorial garden.

Mr Downe said that he began researching the cemetery records after hearing there were plots where stillborn babies were interred.

"I thought there might have been two or three babies there but there were actually 42 babies and I wanted to find out where they were," he said.

"I had been told that they had been buried with no service performed.

"It was common practice back then to take the baby away from the parents without the mother ever holding the baby.

"People thought it was in the mother's best interest and a lot of the mothers never knew where their babies were buried," he said.

People were denied the right to grieve because their babies were taken away Patrick Wilcockson, SANDS charity

Cllr Downes has been in touch with some of the mothers whose babies were laid to rest there.

"One woman had a baby in the 1970s and she thought her baby had been buried at Merthyr Mawr but her baby is our cemetery," he said.

"While another lady from St Athan has found out that her baby was buried here 55 years ago."

Fundraising efforts are being made to erect a permanent memorial to the babies and it is hoped that the ground will be blessed.

Patrick Wilcockson from the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society (SANDS) said a memorial garden would be "very empowering" for those coming to terms with the loss of their baby.

"We get so many long ago bereaved mothers who are still suffering and this is a really positive step to take," he added.