The bodies of thousands of aborted and miscarried babies were incinerated as clinical waste in Britain, with some even used to heat hospitals, an investigation has found.
Ten National Health Service trusts admitted burning foetal remains with other rubbish, while two used bodies in "waste-to-energy" plants for heating.
The government issued an instant ban on the practice.
At least 15500 foetal remains were incinerated by 27 NHS trusts over the last two years alone, a Channel 4 television programme found.
It said parents who lost children in early pregnancy were often not consulted about what happened to the remains.
Leading hospital Addenbrooke's, in Cambridge, incinerated 797 babies below 13 weeks gestation at its waste-to-energy plant. Mothers were told they were "cremated".
A facility at Ipswich incinerated 1101 foetal remains between 2011 and 2013.
A total of one in seven pregnancies ends in a miscarriage, while NHS figures show there are about 4000 stillbirths each year in the UK, or 11 each day.
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