New data: 1,616 lives could have been saved

In the UK, there are persistent and longstanding inequalities in baby loss by ethnicity. Through our Listening Project, we spoke to Black and Asian bereaved parents about the care they received. Half believed they received worse care or were treated differently because of their ethnicity including alarming instances of racist stereotyping, behaviours and language. 

Following this, Sands launched the #EndInequalityInBabyLoss campaign - to raise awareness of the higher rates of baby death and pregnancy loss among Black and Asian families, amplify the voices of bereaved parents with lived experience and call for targeted action across the Government, NHS and professional bodies. Bereaved parents launched an open letter calling for new national targets to eliminate inequalities in baby loss, to make care safer and more equitable.

Sands-funded research has shown that these inequalities have been documented for over 70 years. Shockingly, Sands analysis has now found that 1,616 lives could have been saved if the stillbirth and neonatal death rates for Black and Asian babies had been the same as white babies between 2019-2023.  

The interim report from the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation in England has now confirmed what bereaved parents have long been saying, that racism and discrimination in maternity care are driving this inequality. 

The open letter authored by bereaved parents and signed by more than 3,300 people has been delivered to the Government. Now we need the Government to act. 

The National Investigation has confirmed what bereaved parents have been telling us

In February 2026, Baroness Valerie Amos published the interim findings of the Independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation in England, drawing on the experiences of over 8,000 people and more than 400 families. It confirms what Black and Asian bereaved parents have been saying for years. The maternity and neonatal system is failing too many families. And for Black and Asian families in particular, that failure is too often shaped by systemic racism.

In 2023, the stillbirth rate among Black babies was more than twice both the UK average and the rate among white babies. Neonatal mortality rates for Black and Asian babies were over 50% higher than those for white babies.    

The National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation in England and the Taskforce which will take forward its recommendations must address this. We need governments across the UK to adopt new national targets to reduce the number of babies that die and to eliminate inequalities in baby loss as a priority. 

What the Investigation found  

Baroness Amos’ interim report explicitly identifies racism and discrimination as factors contributing to the inequalities we see in maternity and neonatal outcomes.   

Black and Asian women described being stereotyped in ways that put their safety at risk. Asian women were dismissed as overly anxious - labelled as ‘unable to cope’. Black women were treated as though they were stronger, tougher, less in need of care or pain relief. This assumption is no doubt rooted in harmful and false stereotype.