One devastated mother who suffered a miscarriage was told her child would be ‘incinerated with the rest of the day’s waste’. The scandal of how the NHS treats parents who lose a child in early pregnancy was uncovered as part of a Channel 4 Dispatches programme to be broadcast tonight. Health minister Dr Dan Poulter said this practice was "totally unacceptable". ‘That is why I have asked Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS medical director, to write to all NHS hospital trusts, to make it clear that it must stop now. I am disappointed trusts may not be informing or consulting women and their families Professor Mike Richards, Care Quality Commission 
 
 "The chief medical officer has also written to the Human Tissue Authority to ask them to make sure that there is clear guidance on this issue. ‘While the vast majority of hospitals are acting in the appropriate way, that must be the case for all hospitals and the Human Tissue Authority has now been asked to ensure that it acts on this issue without delay.’ 
 
 Cathryn Hurley, 35, found out during a 13-week pregnancy scan that her baby had died at eight weeks, and later underwent a medical procedure to remove the foetus. I asked one of the nurses what would happen to my baby; and she just said - well, it will be incinerated with the rest of the day’s waste. It goes against advice from Sands, the neonatal death charity, which states that incineration, under which the remains are burned along with the rest of the waste, ‘must not be called cremation’. Professor Sir Mike Richards, chief inspector of hospitals, from the Care Quality Commission, said: "I am disappointed trusts may not be informing or consulting women and their families. This breaches our standard on respecting and involving people who use services and I'm keen for Dispatches to share their evidence with us. ‘We scrutinise information of concern and can inspect unannounced, if required.’ 
 
 
 
 A total of one in seven pregnancies ends in a miscarriage, while NHS figures show there are around 4,000 stillbirths each year in the UK - or 11 each day. ‘The parents are given exactly the same choice on the disposal of foetal remains as for a stillborn child, and their personal wishes are respected.’ 
 
 
 
 Ipswich trust said it was concerned to discover that foetal remains from another hospital were incinerated on its site.
– British hospitals have incinerated more than 15,500 aborted and miscarried fetal remains over the years, at times to generate power for heat in "waste-to-energy" plants, the Telegraph reports. A UK television show revealed the practice tonight, but health officials beat them to the punch by banning the practice yesterday. In all, ten hospitals have admitted to incinerating fetal remains with other garbage, while two leading hospitals—Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge and Ipswich Hospital—said they burned about 1,900 of them at energy facilities. Until now, British law has required hospital staff to offer women who have a miscarriage or abortion three options: incineration, cremation, or burial, the BBC reports. But forms given to women mention "cremated" and make no mention of "incineration" with the daily trash, reports the Daily Mail. At times, hospital staff actually told the real story: "I was hysterical. I was crying," said a 35-year-old woman who learned at a 13-week scan that her baby had died at 8 weeks. "I asked one of the nurses what would happen to my baby, and she just said, 'Well, it will be incinerated with the rest of the day's waste.'"