A mother whose baby had to be sent from Northern Ireland to Liverpool for a post-mortem has said the “cruel” and ”unnatural process” was “indescribably painful”.
Victoria Buckley’s son Ollie was “born sleeping” at Antrim Area Hospital in Northern Ireland on 25 May 2024 at 37 weeks.
After the heartbreaking loss, the 33-year-old and her husband, Kyle, 34, were told that if they wanted a post-mortem examination carried out, Ollie would have to be taken to England.
Northern Ireland currently has no specialist paediatric pathologists to carry out the examinations. In 2019, interim arrangements with Alder Hey Children’s Hospital were put in place to send babies to the paediatric pathology service in Liverpool.
However, six years later these temporary measures are still operating.
Ms Buckley is calling for an end to the arrangement, which left her apart from her son for the precious days between his delivery and funeral.
“It felt like I was having to say goodbye to my baby two or three times,” she told The Independent.
“First when I was told he had died, the second time when he was taken to Liverpool and the third at the funeral.
“It’s the most unnatural thing for a mother. You’ve just given birth and even though the baby has died you still want to protect them.
“To give your baby to strangers to go to another country is just horrific.”
Parents or family members who wish to travel with their baby to Liverpool are supposed to be given the option to do so, but Mrs Buckley says she was not made aware of this.
She added that even if she had been given the option, it would have been impossible to be away from her family and travel to Liverpool days after the delivery.
It took four days for her to have access to the bereavement suite and for Ollie to be taken to Liverpool due to what staff described as a “backlog”.
The Northern Trust apologised for the “poor choice of language in these exceptionally difficult circumstances”.
It added: “Sadly in this particular set of circumstances, there was more than one family who had experienced the loss of their baby and who needed our support. We will continue to keep the need for the bereavement suite under review to inform any future service planning.”
A spokesperson said that it aims to ensure staff have received appropriate training and are informed “so that they can provide all the relevant information to parents in a sensitive, compassionate, and respectful way”.
“We sincerely apologise that in this instance, the parents do not feel they received the information and support they needed,” the spokesperson added.
When it was time for Ollie to be taken to Liverpool, Ms Buckley was brought a metal box with a lid to put her baby in but was not told how he would be transported.
She said: “There wasn’t even a sheet – it was just a white metal box with a lid. When I tried to put a blanket in with him they said they couldn’t promise it would be returned.
“At one point I thought he’d be in with the luggage on an airplane. Thankfully, I later found out he would be taken on a boat with the undertakers.”
She also had to agree that Ollie would be kept in Liverpool for as long as needed, leaving her unsure when he would return to her.
“There are no words to describe the heartbreak of those days without him. It was horrific,” she said.
“Those days after you give birth are the only days you’re going to have with your baby. It’s so cruel to have them taken away from you.”
Ms Buckley has now launched a petition, End the heartbreak: Fight for All-Island Post-Mortem Examinations in Northern Ireland. She hopes the government can arrange either an all-island process or a service for Northern Ireland.
“Since launching, I have had so many people contact me. People are left without answers for the rest of their lives because they couldn’t face sending their babies to Liverpool.
“This is going to continue to happen, as horrific as it is, unless we stand up and do something.”
The Independent has contacted Northern Ireland’s Department for Health for comment
