A B.C. couple waited weeks to get their stillborn daughter's remains. Then, they were invoiced for her autopsy

Jodie Martinson · CBC News

· Posted: May 29, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

Nick Bordignon was inactive heavy successful grief implicit the decease of his babe girl past October erstwhile an envelope from the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) turned up successful his mailbox.

It was addressed to the babe helium and his woman had named Makayla Poppy erstwhile she was delivered astatine Eagle Ridge Hospital 4 weeks earlier pursuing an ultrasound that showed the kid was dead.

Inside was an invoice for the outgo of an autopsy and an itemized database of tests conducted by a coroner — a measure the PHSA has since admitted the Bordignons were ne'er expected to see.

And to marque matters worse, the missive seemed to bespeak Makayla's assemblage was inactive successful the morgue — two weeks aft the autopsy was performed and astir a period aft she was stillborn.

"I retrieve conscionable lasting determination successful disbelief … and the archetypal disorder precise rapidly turned to rage," said Bordignon, who works arsenic a constabulary officer. 

"I'm nary fool, I've seen autopsies performed, they are not beauteous … it was soul-crushing and conscionable wrong.... It's conscionable like, okay, truthful if this is an itemized list, this means the autopsy has been done. Where is she?"

'Who's to accidental it can't hap again?'

CBC News has learned that the Bordignons' concerns astir some the invoice and the hold successful releasing Makayla's assemblage are present nether probe by B.C.'s Patient Care Quality Review Board — the assemblage tasked with reviewing complaints astir wellness authorization policies and procedure.

The communicative highlights what experts accidental is simply a deficiency of standardized attraction erstwhile it comes to stillbirths, which tin effect successful errors that traumatize already grieving families.

The Bordignons' are not the archetypal B.C. household to acquisition delays receiving their baby's assemblage aft a commencement oregon stillbirth — a concern seemingly compounded by disagreements implicit who yet bears work for delivering the kid to the family. 

Dr. Lynn Murphy-Kaulbeck, president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, says the Bordignons' experience is indicative of wider problems successful the system. 

"That horrible communicative conscionable speaks to a larger contented of not having things successful place," she told CBC.

"The strategy not acknowledging the gravity of what's occurred and not having systems successful spot truthful that nary genitor volition ever spell done that."

Bordignon says losing Makayla already felt "insurmountable." 

"To person these different things added to it, the invoice, hold of having her instrumentality to us, it's things that harm an already unspeakable experience," said Bordignon.

"Even if it's an error, who's to accidental it can't hap again?" 

'Error successful coordination'

In the hours they had with Makayla's assemblage aft she was calved connected Sept. 25, 2024, Bordignon says helium and his woman Laura admired her brunette hair, ample feet and "super cute" nose. 

They besides consented to an autopsy that mightiness assistance them larn much astir what had gone wrong. 

"We benignant of looked astatine it arsenic she volition beryllium protecting her aboriginal siblings with this knowledge," said Laura Bordignon 

The household accidental they were told Makayla's assemblage would beryllium transferred to the B.C. Children's Hospital's morgue for an autopsy. They believed she would past beryllium promptly transferred the ceremonial location the Bordignons chose to cod her remains. 

"Walking retired of the infirmary aft a commencement without a kid is soul-crushing," said Nick. 

"We cognize she's not coming location the mode that we privation her to travel home, obviously. But it was this conception that erstwhile she'd beryllium home, she'd beryllium safe. She'd beryllium with her parents."

According to the invoice, Makayla's autopsy was performed connected Oct. 7.

In a missive to the family, PHSA apologized and reversed the invoice.

After the Bordignons received the invoice successful the message and called the hospital, the process of getting Makayla's remains location unfolded quickly. Makayla's assemblage was released and transferred to the ceremonial location wherever it was cremated. 

Not the archetypal time

The Bordignons told CBC they conscionable privation a wide knowing of what went wrong. 

The mates began by filing a missive to Provincial Health Services Authority asking for the invoice to beryllium scrapped and for the infirmary to marque changes to halt thing similar this from happening ever again. 

In a letter, the PHSA apologized for the invoice and said the charges for the autopsy had been reversed. 

But the Bordignons accidental they weren't satisfied the hospital's effect would forestall the aforesaid happening from happening again and requested a face-to-face gathering with leadership. They've been promised a accidental to bash that successful June. 

Now the contented has been escalated to the provincial Patient Care Quality Review Board. The committee says it is experiencing a "backlog" and anticipates the reappraisal mightiness not beryllium implicit for respective months. 

It's not the archetypal clip grieving parents person mislaid their child's remains to miscommunication.

In 2022, Émilie Negahban says her child's assemblage was near unnecessarily successful the morgue for 8 weeks. 

Negahban gave CBC a missive she received from PHSA's Patient Care Quality Office aft she filed a ailment astir however agelong her lad had been near successful the morgue. The missive promised to standardize the process to trim the hazard of it happening again. 

"It's disheartening to spot that different grieving household already went done this. They did the due steps to effort to get that preventative measure," said Nick Bordignon.

In a connection to the CBC from Ruth Appanah, the enforcement manager of B.C. Women's and B.C. Children's hospitals, the organizations offered a sincere apology to the some families and said "we instrumentality these matters incredibly seriously."

The connection says that infirmary leaders are taking enactment and that  "we person an work to larn from families and bash our champion to improve." 

'She's backmost home'

As a maternal fetal medicine specialist, Murphy-Kaulbeck wants a much robust strategy moving to forestall stillbirths portion supporting families similar the Bordignons successful their grief. 

"If you person a strategy wherever you're looking from the opening to the end, and it's dealt with each clip the aforesaid mode with the aforesaid respect and the aforesaid process, you won't perceive stories similar that," she said. 

The U.K. and Australia person adopted nationalist bereavement attraction guidelines for families aft stillbirth. They person besides adopted nationalist enactment plans to alteration the fig of stillbirths from happening successful the archetypal place. 

Even the explanation of what counts arsenic a inactive commencement is not modular crossed nations. 

In the U.K. a stillbirth is defined arsenic nonaccomplishment that happens aft 24 weeks — which sets the complaint astatine astir 4 deaths per 1000 births. 

In Canada, wherever stillbirth is is defined arsenic nonaccomplishment aft 20 weeks, the complaint is 9 deaths per thousand. 

Murphy-Kaulbeck has been asked by Ottawa to assistance find what it would instrumentality to make a nationalist enactment program connected stillbirth. She cites estimates from the World Health Organization that accidental 30 to 40 per cent of stillbirths are really preventable. 

"As a country, we aren't addressing it to the grade that it needs to beryllium addressed," she said. 

The Bordignons picked up Makayla's ashes from the ceremonial location connected a rainy time successful the archetypal week of November. 

They chose a tiny heart-shaped purple urn with a metallic butterfly for her. Laura protected it nether her jacket. The mates held the container and cried. 

"We person her connected the mantle now," said Nick. "She's backmost home."