Madam, – As the mother of a precious baby boy who was stillborn in September 2008, I was saddened to read Question 13 of the national census form to be completed on April 10th. The question (for women only) asks: “How many children have you given birth to?” and then in the next line the form instructs us to “write in the number of children born alive” (emphasis added). Mothers of stillborn children cannot answer this question accurately.
I am aware that the technical purpose of a census is to take account of the population of the country so that the Government can make plans for public services. However, an ancillary benefit, as every one knows, is to create a record for future generations of the families of their ancestors. For parents of stillborn children, the census would have provided an important opportunity to record the fact of their children’s birth. It is very disappointing that this cannot be done in the forthcoming census and that question 13 implies that their children’s birth is of no importance. Nothing could be further from the truth. – Yours, etc,