Stillbirth autopsy funding to go to new coordinator roles to help guide families through process

When Hayley and Liam Murphy's twin baby boys Ned and Jack died at 21 weeks from a rare twin-specific syndrome, they wanted to make sure nothing else had contributed to their

deaths. On the advice of their obstetrician, the Murphys agreed to autopsies on both the boys, which confirmed they had died of Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome

(TTTS). "She was the one that really felt that because that was our first pregnancy … that was recommended to confirm that it was Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome, because

we didn't want to have to find anything else congenital," Hayley said. "The discussion was clear in our minds that we wanted to make sure that what had happened to the boys

wasn't something that was unrelated to them being twins," Liam said. "For us, it was imperative to sort of ease the mind in some respects, so that next time around when we

were, if we were able to have children again, then hopefully that wasn't something else and we wouldn't have that anxiety going through the pregnancy." The autopsy gave the

Murphys the peace of mind they were hoping for when they fell pregnant later in 2016 with their first daughter. It's that kind of information the government is hoping to

provide to more families and researchers through new funding to increase the number of stillbirth autopsies. In its first budget last October, the government announced it

would spend just under $14 million over the next three years to increase the number of stillbirth autopsies.