Letters to the editor
| Recommended 
Deborah Leighton: Comfort for mothers of stillborn children
01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, August 21, 2008
I would like to respond to Janet M. Kumar’s Aug. 7 letter “Recognize stillborn” regarding a birth certificate for her stillborn child.
In 1971, I delivered a stillborn girl. When I read in The Journal more than a year ago that the state was considering giving out certificates for stillborns, I was very excited. This was something I desperately needed.
In those days, stillborns were treated as though they were just defective babies and we were all told to just get over it — that we’d have more. Well, it doesn’t work that way. No matter how many you have or don’t have, you still miss the child you carried.
All that the mothers of stillborn children need to do is contact the hospital where their child was delivered. My delivery was at Beverly Hospital, in Massachusetts, and the people I spoke to were very kind and directed me to the person I needed to speak to in order to get my certificate.
It took four weeks but I have a certificate of stillbirth with my daughter’s name on it, and after all this time it is such a comfort.
DEBORAH LEIGHTON
Coventry
 | Visit the new tent city in Providence, it's got its rules |
 | Getting down with G-O-D; RPM voices at Burnside Park |
 | North Providence fire truck gets lunchtime workout |
We want to hear from you
More letters to the editor
Ken Gilleo: Unsung volunteer firefighting heroes
Most Viewed Yesterday
In Warwick, a treacherous curve takes a young life
R.I.’s attorney general is well traveled
Family grieves shooting death of ‘a nice young man’
N. Kingstown police release report on worker who died at Electric Boat
Most active surveys
Should the R.I. Tea Party have been dumped from Bristol's Fourth of July parade?
What would you do about the two tent cities in Providence?
React to proposed toll changes on the Pell, Mount Hope bridges
Is Narragansett's policy of using 'orange stickers' to mark party houses unconstitutional?
Most e-mailed in the last 24 hours
New Medicaid rules aim to reduce nursing home admissions
Providence River encampment's growth draws the attention of nearby residents
River Falls Restaurant: Ma Glockner's chicken -- and so much more
R.I. Tea Party dumped from Bristol Fourth of July parade
Stephen P. Laffey: R.I. leaders guilty of fraud: Budget puts state on road to collapse
Reader Reaction
You must be logged in to contribute. Log in | Register Now!
You are logged in as screenname | Log Out
You are logged in, but do not have a "screen" name. Create a Screen Name