Šiluva buries babies who died after miscarriage or abortion

Babies who died before the 22nd week of pregnancy after a miscarriage or abortion at hospitals in Kaunas have been buried in the cemetery in Šiluva, a town in Lithuania. The annual burials are being held for the fourth year, LRT reported.

The ceremony took place ahead of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day on October 15. After Mass, a procession accompanied by the bells of the Šiluva Basilica made its way to the town cemetery.

Kaunas Archbishop Kęstutis Kėvalas said the burials were a sign of respect for human life and showed that no one is forgotten. “It is a powerful sign that life is sacred, regardless of the situation or circumstances, and that we still give dignity to human life from its very beginning,” he said.

Parents can arrange to bury a baby who died before 22 weeks by submitting a request within four days of a miscarriage or abortion. Hospitals are required to bury babies whose parents do not take them for burial.

Svetlana Adler-Mikulėnienė, a spiritual assistant at Kaunas Clinics, said more parents are leaving their babies in hospital care. She said some later regret not taking them for burial, and that the grief can return when they attend the annual ceremony.

Inga Laukytė-Budrienė, head of the Padedu augti association, said some parents find it too painful to take a baby who died at 12, 15 or 19 weeks, and worry about how others will view them or what the funeral rites should involve. She said many young families attended this year’s burial.

Funds are being raised for a monument at the burial site, designed by sculptor Nerijus Kavaliauskas. Laukytė-Budrienė said it will feature three life-size angels and a bench surrounding the grave, where parents can sit and grieve.

Lithuania has five such burial sites, with two more planned.