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Scotland launches memorial book for babies who died before 24 weeks gestation

The Scottish Government is launching a memorial book for parents who have experienced baby loss before 24 weeks gestation.

The scheme was one of Nicola Sturgeon’s last announcements before her resignation last month, and, from this summer, will allow parents to request a commemorative certificate in recognition of their lost son or daughter.

A counsellor who supports bereaved parents in Scotland, Ailsa Meldrum, experienced pregnancy loss 22 years ago when she lost her baby in an ectopic pregnancy and approves of the new scheme.

“[I]t was very traumatic, I was unwell for about a year afterwards – I didn’t cope”, she explained.

Ailsa and her husband Neil live in Kirknewton, West Lothian. She said the new scheme will ensure that babies who die before 24 weeks “won’t be forgotten” and that the scheme will help with the grieving process.

“When the news came out I was delighted for all the families. I definitely want [my] baby in the book. That was my first pregnancy, I did go on to have two other children and that’s lovely, but that baby is still missed”.

“For the first time ever I feel like it has given me permission to speak about it and not feel like it was an invisible loss”, she added

“One of my biggest fears for so many years is when I am no longer here there is absolutely no record that Findlay was here”.

Another woman, Lynne McMillan, and her husband, Gavin, lost their son, Findlay, at 21 and a half weeks in 2013. She told BBC Scotland that she would be applying to have her son included in the memorial book.

She said “We had passed the halfway mark and we started thinking about the future so for that to be ripped away from you was just devastating. One of my biggest fears for so many years is when I am no longer here there is absolutely no record that Findlay was here”.

“He was part of me, he will always be part of me – just to have him formally recognised is amazing”.

A similar scheme was launched in England last year when the Government announced that it would be introducing pregnancy loss certificates for women who lose their babies before 24 weeks gestation. Previously, if a woman lost her baby before 24 weeks, it was registered as a miscarriage. Only if she lost her baby after 24 weeks gestation was the death recorded as a stillbirth.

Campaigners in Wales are fighting for something similar.

Right To Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson said “Pregnancy loss certificates or memorials are a good thing. They acknowledge that these babies’ lives mattered. Pregnancy loss at any stage of pregnancy for any reason is a tragedy. Every baby who dies, whether in the womb or after birth, is someone’s son or daughter and ought to be recognised as having existed and having mattered”.

Urgent appeal 
to save liveS

Help stop three major anti-life threats.

Only hours left of the appeal to build on the momentum from the defeat of the assisted suicide Bill and make this victory last.

Dear reader,

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of people like you across the UK, after a two-year battle, MPs voted by 286 to 270 to reject the Edwards assisted suicide Bill.

This followed the defeat of the McArthur assisted suicide Bill in Scotland by 69 to 57 in March this year.

Many commentators thought both Bills would become law.

If that had happened, this would have led to the deaths of many thousands of vulnerable people over the coming decades.

Because supporters like you acted, those Bills were stopped.

Because of you, many vulnerable lives have been saved.

A prominent pollster described the campaign against these major attempts to introduce assisted suicide, which brought together people from all walks of life across the UK, as one of the “most successful 21st Century UK social issue campaigns”. You helped make that possible.

WHY WE MUST NOT STOP HERE

What we have achieved together is extraordinary. But we must not rest on our laurels.

Dignity in Dying, a multi-million-pound pressure group, has made clear that it will keep campaigning to legalise assisted suicide. 

We cannot wait until another Bill is brought forward. We need to keep pressing for better care and strengthen the case against legalisation now.

WHAT COMES NEXT

The next phase of our Support Not Suicide campaign will operate across Parliament, media, online and in grassroots communities in every constituency across the United Kingdom.

Our focus now is to build on that momentum from the defeat of these assisted suicide Bills and make these victories last.

We want to build a United Kingdom where assisted suicide is seen as unnecessary – and where legalising it is seen as unthinkable.

The first part of that work is a sustained push for universal access to high-quality palliative, hospice and social care. No one should feel driven towards assisted suicide because they cannot get the care and support they need. 

We have already asked supporters to contact their MPs about improving care. With your help, we will keep that pressure on in every constituency, brief MPs and Peers on gaps in care, and make the case for better provision in the media.

The second part is building on these wins to ensure more MPs and more of the wider public understand the dangers of legalising assisted suicide. We will put evidence of those risks before MPs and Peers. We will work with mainstream journalists to bring the voices of people directly affected, doctors and other experts into the national conversation, and produce clear videos and articles that supporters can share online and in their communities.

Our network of 250,000 supporters covers every constituency in the UK. Thanks to people like you sharing our content, our posts and videos have been viewed more than 100 million times online in the last year. 

We want to utilise that massive reach for this next phase of the campaign.

WE CAN ONLY DO THIS WITH YOUR HELP

The two-year fight to stop these Bills drew heavily on our limited resources.

To replenish those resources and fund the next phase of the Support Not Suicide campaign, we aim to raise at least £199,250 by midnight this Sunday (4 October 2026).

We are, therefore, appealing to you to please give as generously as you can today.

Every donation, large or small, will make a crucial difference in protecting vulnerable lives. Plus, if you are a UK taxpayer, £1 becomes £1.25 with Gift Aid at no extra cost to you.

Will you donate now to help make these victories last and protect vulnerable lives?

Urgent appeal 
to save liveS

Help stop three major anti-life threats.

Only hours left of the appeal to build on the momentum from the defeat of the assisted suicide Bill and make this victory last.