Baby Loss Awareness Week

Jayne Kirkham Excerpts

Monday 12th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Jayne Kirkham (Truro and Falmouth) (Lab/Co-op)]

My constituent, little Bran Tunnicliffe, was born on 11 December 2024. He suffered a severe head injury during his birth and died on 17 December 2024. On 7 February, he had his funeral. He was born at the Royal Cornwall hospital in Cornwall and was transferred to Southmead after that. I am here to make some of the points that his parents have made to me about the care that he had, and to make some other points that have not been made yet about the system of post mortems and coroners’ inquests.

It was a struggle, after what happened, to get mental health support for Bran’s mum, and there was very little support for the other parent. The point has been raised across the House that the other parent is often left to feel that they are just there, and that what they think and feel is not taken into consideration and often does not really matter. Helen and Phil have asked me to say that the bereavement team at Treliske have been very good throughout their experience. They also wanted me to say that although many recommendations have been made following reports and investigations, it is difficult to see, as the right hon. Member for Godalming and Ash (Sir Jeremy Hunt) mentioned, whether they are acted on, and how parents can ensure that care improves.

I spoke about Bran last year. The previous Health Secretary met Helen and Phil, who fed into the Government’s review. Some of the points made were also relevant to the Ministry of Justice, so a Minister from the MOJ was there, too. There was a very long wait for a pathologist’s report in Bran’s case; the lack of pathologists is a common issue, and the Minister did take that away. Bran’s inquest is still being delayed, and is scheduled to take place in the new year—more than two years since Bran died, which is an extremely long time. The family also said that they have had a number of dealings with the coroner’s court, and thought that perhaps improved training for coroners’ courts in dealing with parents who have undergone this kind of thing would be helpful. They found the whole process extremely difficult.

Some charities that really helped Bran’s family, and that are local to us in Cornwall, are Luna’s Fund, which supports parents in Devon and Cornwall, and 2wish, which is a child bereavement charity. Helen and Phil set up their own charity for Bran, Bran’s Library, which gifts picture books to parents in similar situations.

I want to mention my predecessor in this place, Cherilyn Mackrory, who spoke movingly in this House about her experiences and her daughter Lily. She chaired the APPG on baby loss with the right hon. Member for Godalming and Ash.

So many families are affected by baby loss, and mine is no exception. We learn from the experiences of our constituents and our own families; hopefully the Health Secretary—it is fantastic that she has been here throughout this debate—can take away those stories and make improvements for the future.