Apology after baby funeral mix-up

A hospital apologised today after a grieving mother attended the wrong funeral service for her stillborn baby.

An investigation was under way after the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle admitted a “misunderstanding” had taken place which saw Josephine Mudzingwa, 39, mistakenly attend the funeral of another woman’s baby, thinking it was her daughter’s.

Ms Mudzingwa, of North Shields, was advised to terminate her pregnancy after seven months because her unborn daughter, who she named Meryline, had been diagnosed with the dangerous genetic disorder, Edwards Syndrome.

The condition can lead to problems with the baby’s heart and kidneys, and 95% of foetuses with the disease die in the womb.

The procedure took place in August this year and she was then invited to attend a joint cremation service for five stillborn babies at Newcastle’s West Road Crematorium on October 1.

But on November 19, she was contacted by a hospital bereavement officer, who asked her why she hadn’t come to bury her child.

She was then told that Meryline’s body was still in the hospital mortuary.

The mother-of-three, who moved to the UK from Zimbabwe in 2004, said she was “devastated” by what had happened.

She told the Newcastle-based Evening Chronicle: “It has ripped me apart. I am going through so much pain and heartache.

“My Meryline has still not had her funeral and we attended the cremation service for another baby. I want the hospital to take responsibility and do what is right now.”

A hospital spokeswoman said Ms Mudzingwa’s baby was never due to cremated, but buried instead. “There was no child cremated that should not have been cremated,” she insisted.

She could not explain exactly how the mix-up occurred, but a senior consultant at the hospital’s Maternity Department said: “The invitation to the family does not appear to have been given through our normal method of communications and we remain puzzled as to why this was the case.

“In an endeavour to pinpoint exactly what happened, an investigation is still under way in this respect. An assurance can be given that there has been no mix-up whatsoever in relation to any other parents and families at that time.

“We can only apologise that the situation has been the cause of such distress.”

The spokeswoman added that the hospital had had difficulties contacting Ms Mudzingwa after her baby was terminated.