Tears as Fife woman finally finds baby sister’s grave after 60-year search

A Fife woman has finally found where her baby sister is buried after decades of searching.

Caroline Mitchell’s mum Margaret Flynn believed baby Pearl was stillborn in November 1963.

And it was more than 40 years before she discovered she actually lived for half an hour.

Her baby was taken away by staff at Craigtoun Maternity Hospital, in St Andrews, immediately after birth without Margaret seeing her.

And she was later told Pearl was buried in a numbered, but unmarked, grave in hospital grounds.

Margaret and husband John both died without ever discovering her resting place.

But Caroline, 59, from Leven, continued the search for her sister, who died before she was even born.

And two weeks ago she finally received answers, thanks to Fife Council’s bereavement services.

“I sat down and cried,” said Caroline.

“I’ve spent a lifetime grieving for a sister I never even met.

“I just wish my mum and dad were here to see this happen.”

But despite her own relief, Caroline knows several other people in Fife who are still searching for their own stillborn babies or siblings.

A wrong that must be put right for other Fife families

She says it’s a wrong which must be put right.

Her family had to overcome several barriers during their 60-year fight for answers.

A combination of a lack of compassion shown to families in the 1960s, and poor record-keeping were to blame.

“We hit brick wall after brick wall,” says Caroline.

“My mum was told Pearl was stillborn.

“The first of her knowing her baby wasn’t actually stillborn was in 2005.”

A genealogist at St Andrews library discovered Pearl lived for 30 minutes.

“My mum could have cuddled her baby, spent time with her and made her own funeral arrangements,” says Caroline.

“That was heartbreaking and it was worse not knowing where she was.

“We went up to Craigtoun. However, there weren’t any graves there and the hospital was in ruins.”

Caroline now knows Pearl was actually buried at Western Cemetery, St Andrews, four miles from the hospital.

Several stillborn babies interred in St Andrews cemetery

“My mum spoke about Pearl all her days. She never got over it,” Caroline says.

In 2009, four years before she died, Margaret had Pearl’s name inscribed on her own headstone at Scoonie Cemetery in Leven, where John was previously laid to rest.

However, Caroline has now placed a small wooden cross at the site of Pearl’s real grave and had it blessed.

NHS Fife says the practice Caroline’s family endured continued until the 1970s.

And Fife Council confirmed several other babies are interred in the same area of the cemetery.

Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity, has erected a memorial headstone at the site and names are added as families make their own discoveries.

‘It’s not just about me’

“This is closure for my family but it’s not just about me,” says Caroline.

“One person I know is looking for a brother and a sister.

“If there’s anybody out there still searching for a child who was stillborn at Craigtoun Hospital, the channel is now open and hopefully you’ll get the information you need.”

Fife Council bereavement services manager Liz Murphy says staff have been able to access some historical records at the request of parents.

“We’ll do our best to help anyone who comes to us with a name and date to trace their loved ones so they can do the same,” she said.

Much more support available now for families of stillborn babies

Meanwhile, Ian Campbell, interim head of spiritual care and bereavement lead for NHS Fife, said much greater support is now available for families who experience the loss of a baby.

“Losing a child during pregnancy is heartbreaking,” he said.

“And the care provided to mothers of stillborn babies in the 1960s was often not as compassionate or person-centred as we’ve come to expect today.

NHS Fife’s spiritual care team now works with the charity Held in our Hearts to offer families emotional support and help with funeral arrangements.

Siblings are also supported through the most difficult time.