Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ16: Handling of abortuses
Following is a question by the Professor Hon Joseph Lee and a written reply by
the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council
today (June 28):
Question:
Earlier, a woman who had a miscarriage before 24 weeks of pregnancy sought my
assistance, saying that only after a lot of twists and turns was she allowed to
collect the stillbirth from the public hospital concerned. Moreover, as the
hospital had refused to issue the Certificate of Stillbirth (the Certificate),
she was unable to arrange for cremation and burial of the stillbirth. She was
infuriated by the hospital's suggestion that she arrange for cremation of the
stillbirth as a pet. It is learnt that the Hospital Authority (HA) currently
treats stillbirths of less than 24 weeks as clinical waste and will not issue
the Certificate for such stillbirths. In this connection, will the Government
inform this Council if it knows:
(1) the number of cases of miscarriage before 24 weeks of pregnancy throughout
the territory in the past five years; among such cases, the number of those in
which the parents of the stillbirths were allowed to collect the stillbirths,
and the burial arrangements for the stillbirths collected;
(2) the justification for HA's decision to treat stillbirths of less than 24
weeks as clinical waste; whether the authorities will review the relevant
arrangement to make it more respectful of the feelings of parents of
stillbirths; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3) whether there is legal basis for HA's doctors to refuse to issue the
Certificate in respect of stillbirths of less than 24 weeks; if so, of the
details; whether HA will change such practice to address the aspirations of some
parents of stillbirths; if HA will, of the details; if not, the reasons for
that?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the various parts of the question raised by the Professor Hon Joseph
Lee is as follows:
(1) The Department of Health and the Hospital Authority (HA) do not maintain
statistical record on the number of cases of miscarriage before the 24th week of
pregnancy. As for the number of abortuses with less than 24 weeks of gestation
collected upon HA's approval, HA has only kept the relevant figures from 2015
onwards, which are tabulated below:
Year Number of abortuses with less than 24 weeks of gestation collected upon
HA’s approval
2015 2
2016 8
2017 (as at June 15) 13
Total 23
According to the information provided by the claimants to HA, among the 23
cases, 15 involved burial in private cemeteries, while the remaining eight
involved cremation by private facilities.
(2) and (3) The definition of "stillbirth" is based on the consensus of the
medical profession on the gestational age and birth weight at which a baby is
viable at birth. In Hong Kong, the medical profession has defined "stillbirth"
as a baby born without sign of life, at or after 24 weeks of gestation, or with
a birth weight of more than 500 grams when the gestational age is uncertain.
This definition is contained in the guidelines issued by the Hong Kong College
of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (HKCOG). The same definition has been
adopted by other countries. Under section 18 of the Births and Deaths
Registration Ordinance (Cap. 174), doctors may issue a Certificate of
Still-birth (Form 13 under the Ordinance) in respect of a still-born child. HA
will keep in view the latest developments in the definition in other places and
the HKCOG's guideline in order to review whether the definition in Hong Kong
needs to be updated.
As regards abortuses without a Certificate of Still-birth, HA will let the
parents concerned claim them back where feasible provided that the relevant
legal requirements and such conditions as public health have been met. Abortuses
which have not been claimed will be handled by HA in accordance with the
relevant laws.
Ends/Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Issued at HKT 12:57
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