Sands Baby Loss Awareness Week 2017

Baby Loss Awareness Week provides Sands with a unique opportunity to further raise awareness about the issues surrounding pregnancy and baby loss in the UK. This year we are calling for improved bereavement support for families affected by baby and pregnancy loss. In the UK, Baby Loss Awareness Week is a collaboration between more than 40 charities in which Sands plays a pivotal role.

The death of a baby is not rare. Every day in the UK around 15 babies die before, during or soon after birth. That means every 90 minutes a family is faced with the devastation of the death of their baby. This is unacceptable. So it’s shocking that a lack of dedicated bereavement rooms on maternity wards means mums and dads have nowhere private to spend precious time with their baby before they have to say goodbye. Or that gaps in training for health professionals mean parents whose hopes and happiness have been shattered are sent home without a sensitive explanation about why their baby died.

We provide free support to anyone affected by the death of a baby through our national helpline, forum and network of support groups.We train thousands of midwives, doctors and other professionals so that they can provide the care and support parents desperately need when their baby has died.

And we fund research to reduce the number of babies who die every day in the UK. But there is much more work to be done.

Our vision is a world where fewer babies die and every bereaved family gets the care and support they need for as long as they need it. By 2020 we aim to reduce the number of babies dying by at least 20%, and we urgently need to fund research to better understand what causes these deaths. We also want every bereaved parent to receive a free memory box to collect keepsakes to help them remember their precious baby.

We are leading this fight but we can only make our vision a reality with your help.