400 babies were dissected at universities

HUNDREDS of dead babies from mother-and-baby homes across the country were dissected in Irish universities — without the knowledge or permission of their mothers.

An RTÉ Prime Time investigation into the vaccine trials carried out in the homes, where unmarried women were sent to have their children, revealed that more than 400 babies were dissected by medical students around the country. The practice continued into the 1960s.

The Adoption Rights Alliance last night called for a state inquiry into how these dissections were sanctioned and into the vaccine trials that were regularly held on infants born in these homes.