Today, the Sands and Tommy’s Joint Policy Unit (JPU) published its latest Saving Babies' Lives Report.

This sets out principles that need to be met and important questions that need answering to improve maternity and neonatal care and to save babies’ lives.

The JPU report sets out five principles we believe a reformed maternity and neonatal system should meet: 

• Safe: a shared understanding of safety should determine what reforms are required
• Equitable: a baby’s ethnicity or their family’s circumstances should not determine their chance of survival
• Family-centred: services should be designed for, and by, parents and babies.
• Accountable: a culture of learning and improvement, not blame, is essential for safer care
• Evidence-driven: evidence and evaluation must be embedded from the outset

For each principle, the report looks at where the current system is falling short in these areas and raises important questions which the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce need to answer to ensure its action plan to reform services in England is successful.

It also highlights that changing the culture within maternity and neonatal services is just as important as changing policies and processes. Read the Saving Babies' Lives 2026 Report

The latest Progress Report from the Sands and Tommy's Joint Policy Unit makes clear that we have a rare opportunity to reshape maternity and neonatal care for the better. Over the years, families have heard too many reports and investigations exposing serious failings. Now the challenge is turning that evidence into action. 

 

The Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce has a unique chance to drive meaningful reform, and we must ensure it is equipped with the latest evidence, data and insights to create a maternity and neonatal system that is safer, more equitable and accountable.

 

We need bold action, not incremental change, if we are to prevent avoidable deaths and make care safer for every baby and every family.
 

- Clea Harmer, Chief Executive, Sands

How the Taskforce can use the Saving Babies’ Lives report to support the urgent reform needed

The Taskforce was set up earlier this year following two major reports - Baroness Amos’ Investigation and Donna Ockenden’s review of maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Both reports highlighted how services are failing families and babies across England and the need for a complete overhaul of the system which underpins care.

The Taskforce, chaired by Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Yvette Cooper, has been created to deliver these changes through an action plan, due to be published in December.

The Saving Babies' Lives report has been shared with the Taskforce and its Chair. Now, Sands and Tommy’s in their roles in the Taskforce and third sector expert reference group respectively, will continue to pose these questions and share insights, evidence and data to help the action plan achieve what is urgently needed.

We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform maternity and neonatal care and the evidence for change laid out in our latest report is clear where the current system is falling short. This evidence cannot be ignored and the challenge is turning that into action.

We have shared our report with the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce and urge the Chair to be ambitious and deliver the deep, lasting reforms needed.

- Georgia Stevenson, Head of Sands and Tommy's Joint Policy Unit

The latest data for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

The Taskforce will be limited to developing an action plan for England, so the focus of this year’s report, and the data it contains, is on England. However, the recent review in Wales and the upcoming investigation in Scotland show that these issues are not limited to England, and many of the questions posed would benefit from the devolved governments’ consideration also. 

To accompany this report and explore data across the devolved nations in more detail, we have published separate briefings which are available on the JPU website.

Visit the Sands and Tommy's Joint Policy Unit website.