Halton councillor urges councils nationwide to help families find lost babies answers
Halton councillor Carol Plumpton Walsh urges UK councils to support Sleeping Babies Reunited and help families uncover answers about historic stillbirths.
By Runcorn & Widnes World
Halton councillor Carol Plumpton Walsh is calling on councils across the UK to support the Sleeping Babies Reunited campaign and help families uncover what happened to babies who were stillborn decades ago.
Halton Borough Council recently backed a motion recognising the campaign, following a speech by Councillor Plumpton Walsh. The motion received unanimous support from councillors.
The campaign focuses on families affected by historic stillbirth and burial practices. Before the mid-1980s, some stillborn babies were taken from their parents without consent and buried in communal or mass graves without families being told where they were laid to rest.
During the council meeting, Councillor Plumpton Walsh read a personal statement on behalf of Karen, whose daughter Paula was born sleeping 45 years ago.
Paula was born at Widnes Maternity Home on 29 October 1981. Karen was separated from her baby and later contacted by the hospital about cremation arrangements, but decades of efforts to establish what happened to Paula have not found her.
Karen and Paula’s siblings continue to seek answers about what happened to her and where she was buried.
Halton’s decision followed a similar motion at Liverpool City Council, which was also passed unanimously.
Councillor Plumpton Walsh is now urging councillors and local authorities nationwide to submit their own motions in support of Sleeping Babies Reunited.
She said the campaign could help create a nationwide commitment to finding answers for families who have spent decades trying to trace their babies.
The campaign’s work is aimed at helping families locate records, understand historic burial practices and find out what happened to children who were born sleeping.