Stillborns

Reuven Blau, the Post reporter who wrote the story about mothers of stillborn infants last weekend, forwarded this statement from the New York City Department of Health Press Office:

"Similarly to requesting a death certificate, a Certificate of Spontaneous Termination of Pregnancy is available upon request at no cost if a valid ID is presented. Such requests are very rare. The certificates are mailed to the requestor after the processing is completed.

If the Health Department is not able to find the certificate, the requestor is sent a statement in the mail expressing this. In some cases, the hospital may not have reported the miscarriage or fetal death."

It is a little disturbing that the Department of Health, which has oversight over New York City hospitals, would claim that hospitals might not report infant deaths as an explanation for why so many infants are missing from the Hart Island burial records. Legally, all human remains, that are not privately buried or cremated must be sent for burial on Hart Island. There is no other legal provision for handling human remains. So for a health spokesperson to claim that the hospitals don't record all infants begs the question: "How is that possible?"

Almost daily, I receive inquiries from women who well remember the loss of a child. They are are not forgetful of the time and place no matter how long ago it happened. Many of these infants are simply nowhere to be found. Let's hope the Department of Health does require hospitals to file Certificates of Intrauterine Fetal Death.