More than half of bereaved parents surveyed about their experiences at Lewisham Hospital rated the bereavement care they received as poor or very poor.
The Pregnancy and Baby Loss at Lewisham Hospital report, published today, was written by bereaved parents who are part of the Sands Lewisham Local Campaign Group, following sustained concerns about inconsistent bereavement care at the hospital.
It lands just weeks after two landmark reports into maternity and neonatal services; Baroness Amos’ national maternity and neonatal investigation report and Donna Ockenden's review of maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals both of which found that bereaved and harmed families are too often failed by a system that does not listen to them. The Lewisham report suggests those national findings are playing out locally, right now.
Ingrid, a bereaved mother who experienced a late miscarriage at Lewisham Hospital in February 2021, has been campaigning for change ever since.
Nobody wants to hear those words 'I'm sorry, there's no heartbeat'. We found out at our 20-week scan. From there, we were left to wander the hospital alone, made to wait with other pregnant women in a corridor, given some pills, and sent home to wait for two days for labour to start. Not a single phone call during that time.
We were robbed of a peaceful birth with our baby Charlie. We weren't given the chance to make memories with her. The memory box only appeared after they had already taken her away. On that day, we felt like we didn't matter to anyone, because our baby was already dead.
- Bereaved parent, Ingrid
Ingrid's experience is far from unique as other parents who responded anonymously to the survey described similarly painful gaps in care:
After we found out our baby had no heartbeat we were sent around the hospital wandering on our own, we had to sit and wait with pregnant women. Nobody was aware we were coming...
Not only was I not given any information or leaflets on loss, the midwife who discharged me initially gave me the pack that is given to women who leave the hospital with their living babies.
- Bereaved parent who took part in the survey
The report identifies four key areas where care is falling short:
- Bereavement midwife capacity
- The quality of bereavement facilities
- Consistency of care across departments
- Follow-up support after families leave hospital
According to the report, at the height of the problem is staffing. The British Association of Perinatal Medicine recommends one full-time bereavement midwife for every 2,500 births. Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust saw 6,680 births in 2024; meaning it should employ the equivalent of 2.7 full-time bereavement midwives. At the time of the survey, the Trust had just 1.8 across both of its hospitals.
The report also raises concerns about £4,000 in funding donated by the baby-loss charity 4Louis in 2022, specifically to improve the hospital's bereavement suite, funding that, three years on, does not appear to have been spent. Only 7 out of 19 parents surveyed said they were even offered use of a bereavement suite at all.
Not every experience recorded in the report was negative as some parents described the profound difference that individualised, compassionate care made to them:
Our bereavement midwives...were (and) have continued to be very good and caring. We are currently pregnant again and now under the care of the new Rainbow Clinic which has been brilliant.
- Bereaved parent who took the survey
Jess Reeves, Head of Public Affairs and Campaigns at Sands, said the failings identified in the report were rooted in a lack of resources rather than a lack of compassion from staff.
There are staff at Lewisham who are providing high-quality, compassionate care to bereaved parents, and where this is delivered, the impact it makes is undeniable.
I hope that Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust commit to making improvements to bereavement care on the basis of these findings.
- Jessica Reeves, Head of Public Affairs and Campaigns, Sands
The report sets out 12 recommendations for change, including expanding bereavement midwife capacity, upgrading bereavement facilities, introducing mandatory bereavement training for staff, and ensuring every family is offered the chance to make memories with their baby.
Sands is calling on Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust to bring its care in line with the National Bereavement Care Pathway, a set of standards the Trust signed up to in 2021, and which have been embedded in NHS England guidance since December 2025.
How can you help?
If you live in Lewisham, you can use our email template to write to your MP calling for improvements to bereavement care at the hospital.
If you don't live in the area, you can support Sands’ wider campaigning work by signing up to join our community of campaigners.