Sands has campaigned to make the UK the safest place in the world to have a baby for decades. Over the years, we have campaigned to make baby loss a priority area for the Government, changing both maternity and bereavement care. 

From the moment Sands co-founder Bel Mooney wrote her devastating article on her experience of stillbirth, the foundations were set for transforming the UK’s approach to baby loss.  You can still read Bel's article on the Guardian website.

We pushed hard to introduce and improve bereavement care, publishing information for parents and guidelines for professionals 

Throughout the 70s and 80s, Sands began providing information and support booklets for bereaved parents in collaboration with Mind, the mental health charity. Sands also published guidelines for funeral arrangements for babies and shared them with hospitals.  

We successfully campaigned to lower the definition of stillbirth from 28 weeks to 24 weeks 

The first major impact Sands had on policy was the Sands Bill in 1992. After giving evidence on the state of maternity services to the Health Select Committee at the Houses of Parliament, Sands proposed a Bill to lower the definition of stillbirth from 28 weeks to 24 weeks. Working with MPs, the Bill was passed as the Stillbirth (Definition) Act 1992. If you're interested, you can read the full legislation on the government's website.

We contributed to research and collaborated with policy makers to better influence health policy

Sands published the first bereavement care report in 2010, which you can read here. Soon after we contributed an editorial showing parents’ perspectives in The Lancet series on stillbirths. Read the Lancet series here. This study ranked the UK as number 33 out of 35 wealthy countries for stillbirth rates, showing how much progress was needed.  

We helped reduce the stillbirth and neonatal death rates for the first time in decades 

Sands published its first national survey of bereaved parent in 2008.  

Building on parents’ stories and newly emerging research and audits of care, Sands Saving Babies’ Lives report was published in 2009. It made the case for the first time that stillbirths could be reduced, challenging the orthodoxy that deaths had reached an irreducible minimum.  

The follow up ‘Preventing Babies Deaths’ Sands report laid out the key steps that were needed to cut baby deaths.  

The Why17? Campaign to raise awareness and change the fact that 17 babies were dying every day, was launched in all four UK Parliaments. In Westminster 54 cross-party MPs attended, including the parliamentary undersecretary for health services, shadow ministers and health select committee members.  

The next year, Sands co-hosted a stillbirth summit with the Department of Health to set a collaborative agenda for preventing stillbirths. Sands and and the DHS jointly oversaw workstreams, established to drive forward change in key areas, including better research, better learning from deaths, better awareness of risks in pregnancy and better bereavement care.

Sands campaigning also led to Stillbirth Working groups being established by the Scottish and Welsh Governments  

From 2011, the stillbirth and neonatal death rates across the UK began to decline slowly and steadily for the first time in twenty years.

In 2014, Sands advised on NHS England’s Saving Babies’ lives “care bundle”. Four years later, it was shown that units taking part in the Saving Babies’ Lives care bundle had reduced stillbirth by 20%. 

We have campaigned with others to improve bereavement care and mental health support across the UK

As well as campaigning to improve maternity care and reduce the rates of stillbirth and neonatal death, Sands campaigned with the All-Part Parliamentary Group on Baby Loss to introduce the National Bereavement Care Pathway to ensure that there is national guidance on bereavement care standards for all hospitals to follow.  

Following the Out of Sight, Out of Mind mental health campaign with the Baby Loss Awareness Week Alliance in 2019, NHS England announced more mental health support for bereaved mothers.

26 new hubs focussing on mental health for new, expectant and bereaved mothers were announced in 2021. Sands was also involved in the development of similar plans in the devolved nations. You can read more about these mental health hubs here.

We have built on decades of campaigning experience to continue working towards making the UK the safest place to have a baby

In 2022, Sands campaigned alongside supportive MPs and other organisations for safer staffing levels and a fully costed workforce plan for maternity services. Soon after the campaign, plans to hire 2,000 more midwives were announced alongside a workforce plan for the NHS by the Government.

We have grown a community of thousands of campaigners, working together to support bereaved families and improve maternity services

 Over the years, we have achieved a lot together, but there is still more that can be done to save babies lives and ensure that all who need it can access the care and support they need after their baby has died.

Have a look at our campaigns page to see how you can get involved and help us continue making change.