Research is vital to understand why babies die and find new ways to prevent deaths. No one knows the true scale of pregnancy and baby loss in the UK. Unlike stillbirths and neonatal deaths, the number of miscarriages before 22 weeks is not measured or reported.
But research into baby deaths accounts for just a small part of reproductive health and childbirth research, which in 2022, received only 2.4% of funding for health research in the UK.
Listening to parents helps save lives. We’re putting bereaved parents' experiences at the heart of research. These experiences help academics and clinicians understand why babies die and how maternity care can be improved.
Sands helps answer the most important research questions and acts on these findings, thanks to our decades of experience, position on expert panels, and understanding of policy.
We advocate for healthcare professionals and policymakers to take these actions and help save babies’ lives. We put the voices of bereaved parents at the heart of our work to improve maternity safety and best practice.
In 2023, we listened to the experiences of bereaved Black and Asian parents to learn if about inequalities in care. These inequalities may be contributing to more preventable baby deaths.
No baby should be more likely to die because of their parents’ postcode, ethnicity or income.
We call for maternity care services that learn from every tragedy, so other families have safer care. Together, we’re making the UK one of the safest places in the world to have a baby.
No baby should be more likely to die because of their parents’ postcode, ethnicity or income.
We call for maternity care services that learn from every tragedy, so other families have safer care. Together, we’re making the UK one of the safest places in the world to have a baby.
Research supported and funded by Sands
We support and fund pioneering research aiming to understand why babies die, make care safer and improve bereavement care and support.
Understanding why your baby died
Understanding why your baby died may be the most pressing question you have. Healthcare professionals do not always have answers but there are processes that can help.
Sands' parent surveys and reports
Listening to parents and amplifying their voices is at the heart of all our work. Their experiences help shape the research we support and identify gaps in care.
Baby deaths in the UK information
Every day 13 babies die before, during or shortly after birth. Sands works to understand where and why babies die and why some women and babies are more at risk than others.
Saving Babies' Lives 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.
Organisations Sands works with
Sands has contributed to a national conversation about the importance of safer care for women, their babies, and families in collaboration with other organisations.
Sands campaigns to save babies' lives and ensure that, when a baby does die, anyone affected gets the support and care they need