For far too long, our maternity care in Wales has been in crisis with frontline staff pushed to their limits and families not listened to. We refuse to allow the wall of silence and excuses to stay upright any longer. - Ruth, Bereaved Parent Campaigner

Join the campaign to save babies’ lives and improve care in Wales

At Sands, we are supporting a group of bereaved parents from across Wales to campaign to save babies’ lives and improve care for bereaved parents. They are calling for targets to save more babies’ lives and better care for people following pregnancy or baby loss. Above all, they are demanding accountability.

More information on the campaign

Targets to save babies' lives

The stillbirth rate in Wales has been consistently higher than the rate for the rest of the UK.

There has been no sustained drop in the number of babies being stillborn in Wales since 2018. There has also been a lack of sustained progress in reducing the rate of babies dying shortly after birth in Wales.

Despite this, the Welsh Government have still not set any targets to reduce stillbirths and neonatal deaths in Wales. In England, there is an ambition to half the number of stillbirths and neonatal deaths.

Over 1,000 babies in Wales may have survived if stillbirth and neonatal mortality rates had been the same as the best performing countries in Europe between 2019-2023.

Change is needed. The next Welsh Government must implement clear targets to reduce stillbirths and neonatal deaths. They must also prioritise making maternity care safer. We must work together to save more babies’ lives.

Care for bereaved parents after loss

There is a huge lack of care and support for people who experience pregnancy or baby loss in Wales.

Too many bereaved families are not receiving the compassionate care they deserve when their baby dies – both at the time in hospital, and in the weeks and months that follow. Every bereaved parent deserves access to high-quality bereavement and mental health care.

There are stark regional inequalities across Wales in access to these services. More rural communities often have less access to specialist support, and services are rarely tailored to the needs of the different communities across Wales.

Change is needed

We must break the silence.

Bereaved parents are calling for firm commitments from the next Welsh Government and all Welsh political parties – to set specific targets to save babies’ lives, and rollout consistent care for bereaved parents and families across all of Wales.

Download the campaign briefing to find out more.

Senedd Election 2026

The 2026 Senedd election took place on 07 May.

During the election, we ran a campaign asking politicians from all political parties to sign our pledge to save babies' lives and improve care for people following pregnancy or baby loss.

We are pleased to report that more than 120 candidates signed our pledge, from 12 different political parties. In total, more than 175 people took the time to email their Senedd candidates.

Over the next few days, we will update this page to let you know how many candidates who signed the pledge have been elected to the Senedd.

A huge thank you to everyone that took the time to email their candidates and made this campaign so successful

You can check if your Senedd candidates signed by looking at the list on our website.