Odette Pichard took a strong step. At 99 years old, she wants to have her baby died at birth recognized, 75 years later. A touching story of perinatal loss.
The loss of a child is an immeasurable sorrow. And this, even many years later… This is confirmed by the story of Odette Pichard, aged 99 and yet still very touched by the death of her baby 75 years ago. Some women have a miscarriage and regret the support they receive. Others lose their babies stillborn. But this almost centenarian held her little one well in her arms, and that is what she wants to have recognized today.
Like Ingrid Chauvin, who spoke again about the disappearance of her little Jade, Odette did give birth to her child but he was declared stillborn and does not appear in his family record book. With the help of her granddaughter, she is fighting to change that. Lawyer, Me Aude Denarnaud filed a request for her grandmother at the Paris judicial court, which must give its decision this Wednesday March 6, 2024.
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Perinatal mourning, 75 years later
On May 12, 1949, Odette gave birth to little Pierre-Alain in a Paris maternity ward in the Marais. He is blond, he weighs 3.1 kg. She experiences a difficult birth, using forceps, without her husband Roger. Then she holds her newborn in her arms. But unfortunately, baby dies four hours after birth. Today a resident of the Issy-les-Moulineaux nursing home in Hauts de Seine, she testifies to BFM TV : “What happened ? I don’t know”. Despite the years that pass, Odette does not forget: “Every evening during my prayer I think of him“.
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And to his perinatal mourning is added remorse: “I have regretted it for 75 years and my regret will always be there”. Very moved, she explains her current approach: “This is why I would like his name to be recorded in the family record book: to prove that this child lived. He still lived four hours”.
The moving story of Odette Pichard
Odette returns to the events: “I had the chance to see him: he screamed and then we took him away straight away“. The young mother was not really supported during this ordeal: “They didn’t put it on my stomach, that wasn’t done at the time, but I saw it move! Afterwards I didn’t see him again”. Then nurses take care of the little one while she recovers. She doesn’t worry, it was the procedure at the time, we can read in Release. But then she says: “When I called a few hours later, a doctor came to my room to tell me he had died.“.
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She won’t have much more explanation. He was told that the pool was “limit” and that a cesarean section would have been preferable but she doesn’t ask questions, as is often the case in those times: “At the time we said ‘that’s life”. She analyzes the context: “we accepted everything and said ‘it’s inevitable‘”. But she was only 24 and “not understood” to what was happening to him: “In my entourage, I had never heard that a baby could die at birth.”
A request for recognition for her baby
But what poses a problem for Odette today is the lack of recognition of her baby. Two days after her death, her husband wanted to register her son in the civil registry but it is mentioned that he was stillborn. Despite two documents signed by the clinic doctor attesting that Pierre-Alain lived for several hours, his birth was not officially declared.
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Consequently, the child does not appear on their family record book. And this is what Odette wants now by appealing to justice. A specialist in family law, his granddaughter accompanies him in his approach “symbolic”. It would allow us to recognize that he has “anyway” is part of their family: “He was our son. We brought it to life, we talked about it a lot”.
A feeling of shame to overcome
Another regret for Odette: she panicked when she was asked what she wanted to do with her son’s body. In a state of shock, she declared that she had no money for the funeral. Now she talks about a “feeling of shame”. The whole family thought he was in the family vault since his first name was engraved there. It was only after an operation that she recently told the truth.
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Certainly, “we never mourn”, declares Odette, but she hopes that the court will allow her to include her child in her family record book. On perinatal bereavement, the 99-year-old woman declares: “We live it better, fortunately, but we don’t really mourn a child”.
Editor for Aufeminin since 2022, Charlotte is passionate about cinema, French and international, and a fortune reader. Curious about everything, she talks as much about personalities as…