§ Mr. ThurnhamTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many stillbirths occurred in 1987 at(a) 24 weeks', (b) 25 weeks', (c) 26 weeks', and (d) 27 weeks' gestation; and how many suffered from handicaps.
§ Mr. FreemanThe information requested is not available.
Under the Births and Deaths Registration Act of 1953 a stillbirth is defined as
a child which has issued forth from its mother after the twenty-eighth week of pregnancy and which did not at any 618W time after being completely expelled from its mother breathe or show any signs of life, and the expression 'stillbirth' shall be construed accordingly".