The government has issued a "profound apology" to parents whose stillborn babies were buried in mass graves without their knowledge.

More than 1,000 babies were buried in unmarked graves across Wirral in Merseyside and a mass burial ground in Oldham also contained more than 270 babies.

Gina Jacobs, from Wirral, did not learn where her son Robert had been buried until 53 years after his stillbirth in 1969.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday evening, Health Secretary Yvette Cooper apologised for the "unthinkable pain" caused by the historic practice.

Before the 1980s, it was common practice for stillborn babies to be taken away from mothers by hospital staff and buried in communal graves.

Jacobs said she was not allowed to see or hold Robert after his stillbirth in 1969 and believed he had been buried with an adult whose funeral took place at about the same time.

After seeing a BBC report about another bereaved mother, she began searching and later discovered Robert had been buried in a shared grave with more than 60 other babies. She described what happened as "inhumane".

Jacobs, who said hearing the government's apology was "amazing", now wants to meet the health secretary to seek answers on behalf of parents still searching for their babies.

Cooper, speaking during a Baby Loss Awareness debate, said that across the decades, many bereaved parents had lost babies in NHS hospitals and been denied any say and any information about what would happen with their remains.

"On behalf of the government I want to issue a profound apology to them," she said.

"I have issued that apology to Gina today, but to so many more like Gina who have sought answers over many years.

"I'm sorry for the unthinkable pain caused by those historic practices, because what happened to those parents should never have happened and we need to ensure it can never happen again."

Councillor Kris Brown, who passed a motion on the issue in Liverpool City Council in July, has been working with Jacobs and families across the UK to seek support and justice.

He said: "The government's words of apology will go a long way. For many, just acknowledging that it happened will bring a sense of closure and justice.

"However, this can't just be words simply etched into Hansard. I hope that the Secretary of State, along with the Prime Minister, issues a written apology and sets out a national framework on how families affected by the scandal can get support."

Brown said "there is still far more to do for full justice" but the apology issued on Monday night was very welcome.

Wirral Council has previously said that stillborn babies were interred at Frankby, Plymyard and Landican cemeteries between 1935 and 1981.

Jacobs said she and fellow parents arranged for the mass grave containing their babies to be blessed after discovering they had been buried in unconsecrated ground at Landican Cemetery.