Stillbirth and neonatal death is not just one of those things.  Something can and must be done but we need your help!

Did you know?

Around 4,000 babies are stillborn each year and another 2,500 die before they reach 4 weeks old.  Sands is working to promote research and improvements in practice which could save more babies’ lives.  In the , for every 114 babies born alive and well, 1 baby is stillborn or dies soon after their birth.

That means around 4,000 babies are stillborn each year and another 2,500 die before they reach 4 weeks old. 6,500 deaths each year.

Stillbirths happen ten times more frequently than cot deaths: 1 in 2,500 babies die from cot death; 1 in 200 are stillborn. Yet while the levels of cot death have fallen dramatically in recent years, levels of stillbirth and neonatal death have remained virtually unchanged for 20 years.

Stillbirth is the major cause of perinatal death. It is shocking that the majority of stillbirths happen in pregnancies that were considered to be low risk. In many cases the baby died near the end of the pregnancy, which means that if they had been delivered the baby might potentially have survived.

This is a tragedy. Researchers estimate that if problem pregnancies could be better identified a significant proportion of stillbirths may be preventable.

For many years very little has been done and very little money has been allocated to finding out why these deaths happen and what can be done to prevent them.

Sands is determined to change this situation, by funding research which will give answers to why babies are dying and what can be done to stop it happening.

 

With your help and support we want:

to ensure that fewer families experience the death of a baby.

to understand why some pregnancies go wrong and how to spot which pregnancies are at risk.

to ensure the care mothers and babies receive is effective and of the highest standard.

to know what can be done to prevent things going wrong and to ensure each baby has the best chance of survival.

Sands knows that much more could be done to prevent so many of these tragic and cruel deaths.

To offer your support and to find out further information visit www.why17.org

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