Every day in the UK, 13 babies die shortly before, during or soon after birth. At least 1 in 6 pregnancies end in miscarriage. Thousands of parents and families are experiencing the heartbreak of pregnancy and baby loss every year in the UK.

Too often, the reasons for pregnancy and baby losses are not fully understood, and this lack of understanding makes it harder to prevent future tragedies. But it doesn’t have to be this way. That's why we are taking action.

At Sands, we are doing everything within our combined power to inspire change and prevent babies from dying. Our voices turn understanding into action – saving babies’ lives through research, training and campaigning.

Here you can find information about the statistics around baby deaths in the UK, the national maternity reports that have highlighted the change that needs to happen and links to our policy and campaigning work to help save more babies' lives.
number of baby deaths in the UK

The number of baby deaths in the UK

Sands explains baby deaths in the UK: what the numbers mean and how the statistics are collected and used to measure national efforts to save lives and improve care for all parents.
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Sands and Tommy's Joint Policy Unit

Sands & Tommy's Joint Policy Unit

The UK's two leading national charities in supporting bereaved parents and saving babies' lives, Sands & Tommy's established a Joint Policy Unit in 2022.
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Policy and campaigns

Our Policy and Campaigns work

Find out more about how you can get involved in campaigning to make change happen.
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Causes of death

Causes of Death

There’s a wide range of reasons why babies die. This section focusses on the medical causes of death for babies and covers the most up to date information for the UK.
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National reports and enquiries

National reports and enquiries

Over more than a decade there have been numerous national maternity reports, many driven by the voices and experiences of parents, highlighting where care for mothers and babies should be improved to save lives.
Read the reports
Resources for professionals

Resources for Professionals

We have developed resources and training that will support national initiatives to make care safer for all families, from learning from deaths in review to consent for post mortem.
Explore the resources
Babies are dying every day in the UK. Too often, we don’t understand why. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Sands amplifies the voices of bereaved families and healthcare professionals and supports research to understand why babies die. Find out more about the research we fund and support to save babies' lives.
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