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.
We are pioneering a National Bereavement Care Pathway that would make providing excellent bereavement care a priority for all hospitals.
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.
