Miscarried And Aborted Babies Put Into Incinerator And Used To Heat Hospitals

Thousands of miscarried and aborted babies were reportedly incinerated with other medical waste at hospitals in the United Kingdom and used to heat the medical facilities.

A report in The Telegraph stated that at least 15,500 babies were used to generate power at several different hospitals. Addenbrooke’s Hospital allegedly burned the bodies of nearly 800 babies under 13 weeks gestation in a “waste to energy furnace.”

The mothers of the aborted or miscarried babies were allegedly told that the bodies had been cremated. In 2006, the same hospital also garnered backlash when headlines announced that the facility had burned deceased babies in a trash incinerator. Ipswich Hospital reportedly incinerated the remains of 1,101 babies brought to them by another medical care center over a two-year time period.

After the miscarried and aborted baby remains story made international headlines Department of Health in the United Kingdom banned the practice of incinerating the remains to heat facilities.

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Health Dr. Dan Poulter had this to say about the shocking practice:

“While the vast majority of hospitals are acting in the appropriate way, that must be the case for all hospitals and the Human Tissue Authority has now been asked to ensure that it acts on this issue without delay.”

The Human Tissue Authority in the United Kingdom is a government entity tasked with ensuring that such matter is both safely and ethically incinerated for the remains of babies up to 24 weeks in gestation.

“Fetal tissue from a pregnancy lost before 24 weeks may be incinerated, although how appropriate this is depends on the individual circumstances,” a release from the agency reads.

Officials in the United Kingdom are expected to “clarify” the rules about incinerating baby remains in the wake the public backlash. The Dispatches television show, a public affairs series, is hosted by Amanda Holden. She suffered a stillbirth four years ago and will be discussing the topic in detail on tonight’s episode. Holden is also featured on Britain’s Got Talent.

Amanda Holden had this to say about baby remains being incinerated and burnt to create energy at hospitals, via the Mirror:

“It’s disgraceful to think that babies were thrown into the burner alongside waste such as bandages and syringes. I hope mothers and fathers will be comforted by the knowledge this won’t go on any more.”

Holden appears to have been instrumental in getting Dr. Poulter to investigate the incinerated baby remains story. After her public efforts calling the practice into question, the practice was banned.

“I think he underestimated me because of who I am – a blonde presenter off the telly and I encouraged that because I think the best thing for any interviewer is to be underestimated,” Holden noted.

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