Sands calls for urgent targets to reduce baby deaths and improve mental health support for bereaved parents

WALES has recorded the highest stillbirth rate in the UK for the third year in a row, according to baby loss charity Sands.

The charity has called for urgent action from the Welsh Government following the publication of the latest MBRRACE-UK perinatal mortality surveillance report, which tracks stillbirths and neonatal deaths across the UK.

Sands says there has been a lack of political focus on maternity safety and saving babies’ lives in Wales, despite repeated reviews.

The charity is calling for clear national targets to reduce stillbirths and neonatal deaths, as well as action to eliminate inequalities linked to ethnicity and deprivation.

Aidan Smith, Wales campaign lead for Sands, said: “There has been a lack of political focus and attention on maternity safety and saving babies’ lives in Wales in recent years.

“There has been review after review, but little change. At Sands, we are supporting bereaved parents across Wales to campaign for targets to reduce stillbirths and neonatal deaths and eliminate inequalities by ethnicity and deprivation.

“Bereaved parents are calling for accountability. Targets to reduce stillbirths and neonatal deaths will help ensure that saving babies’ lives becomes the political priority it should be.”

Sands says England introduced targets to reduce baby deaths in 2015, helping focus political decision-making and transparency.

Mr Smith said analysis by the Sands and Tommy’s Joint Policy Unit suggested that more than 1,000 babies in Wales may have survived if stillbirth and neonatal mortality rates had matched the best performing countries in Europe between 2019 and 2023.

The charity wants the Welsh Government to introduce new targets running to 2035, including reducing the stillbirth rate to 2.0 stillbirths per 1,000 total births, and reducing neonatal mortality to 0.5 deaths per 1,000 live births for babies born at 24 weeks’ gestation and over.

It is also calling for inequalities in baby loss linked to ethnicity and deprivation to be eliminated.

Mr Smith said Wales also needed better monitoring of maternity outcomes, including a national data dashboard to track changes over time and identify differences between health boards and population groups.

He said more complete data was needed on ethnicity and social risk factors to understand which families were most at risk of pregnancy and baby loss.

Sands has also raised concern about a lack of specialist psychological support for bereaved parents in Wales.

Mr Smith said there was currently only one specialist NHS service providing mental health support to bereaved parents, the Onnen service in Cardiff and Vale.

He said: “The Welsh Government must evaluate the Onnen service in Cardiff and Vale and expand this to all health boards across Wales.

“All bereaved parents in Wales should have access to specialist psychological support regardless of where they live, the type of pregnancy or baby loss they experienced, or how long ago it was.”

The Welsh Government said support was available to families affected by pregnancy loss and pointed to work taking place across health boards.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “The loss of a baby at any stage of pregnancy is devastating. Families who experience pregnancy loss at maternity units in Wales are supported by bereavement midwives, in conjunction with Sands, and offered memory boxes, which include a certificate of birth.

“Since 2016, stillbirth rates in Wales have shown a downward trend. The latest Perinatal Mortality Surveillance report acknowledges that in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, year-to-year variation in rates is often more pronounced because of lower birth numbers.

“All health boards are committed to improving quality and safety in perinatal care – through enhanced clinical reviews, early warning surveillance, safer preterm birth care, and structured learning from incidents.”

Hywel Dda University Health Board said it recognised “how devastating the loss of a baby is for parents and their families” and said its maternity and neonatal teams worked to provide safe, compassionate and supportive care.

Dana Scott, Director of Midwifery and Professional Governance for Women and Children at Hywel Dda, said the health board had “robust safety measures and clear clinical processes” in place across its maternity services.

She said Hywel Dda’s review processes were aligned with MBRRACE-UK and the Perinatal Mortality Review Tool, ensuring the health board listened, learned and reflected on each baby loss.

Ms Scott added that every family affected by stillbirth or neonatal death had access to dedicated bereavement midwives and nurses, as well as psychological support, follow-up care and opportunities for memory-making.

She said the health board also worked closely with its local Sands group and remained committed to learning from national reports to improve maternity safety locally.

Sands said the new Welsh Government now had an opportunity to act.

Mr Smith added: “Bereaved parents across Wales are campaigning for accountability and change. The new Welsh Government has a chance to reset the narrative by implementing targets to save babies’ lives, eliminating inequalities in loss by ethnicity and deprivation, and rolling out specialist mental health support for bereaved parents across Wales.”

Sands provides support to anyone affected by pregnancy loss or the death of a baby, including a confidential helpline, email support, online groups and local peer-support networks.

TRANSGENDER people “feel under siege”, Wales’ Deputy First Minister has said.

Sioned Williams faced questions on gender identity guidance in schools, and the implementation of single-sex spaces, during her first appearance at Questions to the Deputy First Minister.

Serving as both Deputy First Minister and cabinet secretary for social justice and equality, Ms Williams was questioned by opposition politicians on Wednesday June 10, about the Welsh Government’s response to the Cass Review, and the implementation of the Supreme Court’s ruling on single-sex spaces.

The session opened with questions from Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni’s Reform MS Catherine Cullen, who asked how the Welsh Government would work with education ministers to prioritise “objective, evidence-based safeguarding standards” in schools.

She said: “We sit here today with one non-negotiable duty: the absolute safety of Welsh children in schools.

“When the Cass review explicitly warned that social transition – that is, changing a child’s name, pronouns or uniform at school – is not a neutral act and carries severe psychological risks, Plaid Cymru voted against these recommendations.”

She continued: “[Plaid’s] manifesto demands a demedicalised self-declaration system that actively pushes gender identity theories through the school system.”

In response, Ms Williams said the Welsh Government remained committed to improving literacy and numeracy standards, and stressed the importance of creating a supportive environment in which all children can fulfil their potential.

She told members that education officials had developed draft guidance for schools on supporting transgender, non-binary and gender-questioning learners, and said the education minister recognised the need to proceed with “leadership and sensitivity”.

Questions then turned to the implementation of single-sex spaces following the Supreme Court’s ruling on the definition of sex under the Equality Act.

Reform UK MS Art Wright, of Casnewydd Islwyn, asked about the Welsh Government’s plans to implement single-sex spaces across Wales, while Conservative MS Natasha Asghar, of the same constituency, accused the previous Labour administration of “dragging its heels” in responding to the judgment.

Ms Asghar said she had received correspondence from a Welsh Government employee claiming staff were still working under policies that allowed “men who identify as women to use women’s single-sex spaces from the first day of self-identification”.

Reading from the email that was sent to her, she said: “A government cannot pick and choose which laws it follows, yet that is exactly what seems to be happening within the Welsh Government itself.”

Responding, Ms Williams said the Welsh Government respected the Supreme Court ruling and was working to ensure devolved policies and practices complied with the law.

“This work has to be done carefully and consistently, and across a range of devolved areas,” she said.

However, the Deputy First Minister also emphasised that the Equality Act continues to protect people with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment from discrimination and harassment.

She added: “This is a community that feels under siege at the moment, and we must be sensitive to that.

“We need to look at the practical steps that we can take whilst complying with the Supreme Court ruling, and then, in seeing the code of practice that will come forward, if it is passed in Westminster, we will need to consider how we do that.”

Ms Williams said work was continuing across government departments to ensure Welsh Government policies comply with the law while maintaining protections for transgender people.

Ms Williams, who represents the Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd constituency, also reaffirmed her support for universal free school meals during the session, after Senedd Members raised concerns about food poverty and access to nutritious food for children.

Huw Thomas, Labour MS for Caerdydd Penarth, drew attention to the work of the previous Labour government in introducing universal free school meals for primary school children across Wales.

Mr Thomas said: “For too many of our pupils, this is the only proper meal of the day that they have every day – hugely important – and yet we know that food costs have risen dramatically in recent years.

“So, my question is: when councils tell Welsh Government what the cost of supplying these meals are, will you accept and respect their advice and fund it, or else risk affecting the quality and provenance of the food served to our young people?”

Ms Williams agreed that free school meals play a vital role in supporting children and families.

She said the scheme “really does help”, allowing children to receive the “nutritious hot meal that they so desperately need”.

While noting that responsibility for free school meals sits within the education portfolio, the Deputy First Minister said she would ensure the concerns raised within government.

The discussion also turned to nutrition during pregnancy and early childhood.

Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds said access to nutritious food in a child’s earliest years is critical to healthy development.

She said: “We know how important nutritious food is in brain development in babies, both in pregnancy and in those first 1,000 days.

“Key nutrients such as vitamin D are absolutely essential, and if you are poor and you are not able to afford a full range of nutritious food, then that hampers that child’s development from the very, very early point.”

Ms Dodds asked what steps the Welsh Government was taking to ensure babies and young children have access to healthy food during their first 1,000 days.

Responding, Ms Williams said she “wholeheartedly” agreed about the importance of nutrition in the early years.

She pointed to the Healthy Start scheme, which provides support for low-income pregnant women and families with young children, describing pregnancy as a “crucial part” of ensuring lifelong health.

The Deputy First Minister also highlighted the nursery milk scheme, which provides children under the age of five in approved childcare settings with a free daily portion of milk.

Ms Williams said ensuring children have access to nutritious food from pregnancy through early childhood remains an important part of tackling inequality and improving long-term health outcomes in Wales.

Sands says Welsh Government must set clearer targets to reduce stillbirths and neonatal deaths

A BABY loss charity has called for renewed action to make maternity care safer after the latest national figures on stillbirths and neonatal deaths were published.

The MBRRACE-UK perinatal mortality surveillance report tracks deaths of babies shortly before, during or soon after birth across the UK, including Wales.

The latest report says baby death rates have continued to fall across the UK over the longer term, with the UK extended perinatal mortality rate standing at 4.77 deaths per 1,000 births in 2024, down 21% since 2013.

However, Sands, the UK’s leading pregnancy and baby loss charity, says progress must not be allowed to stall and has called on the Welsh Government to introduce clear targets to reduce stillbirths and neonatal deaths.

The charity said maternity safety must remain a national priority, with better monitoring, stronger accountability and continued learning from every baby death.

The report also notes that rates in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland can vary more from year to year because of lower birth numbers, meaning longer-term trends are important when assessing progress.

Sands says thousands of families across the UK continue to experience the devastation of pregnancy loss or the death of a baby each year.

The charity says that every day in the UK, 13 babies die shortly before, during or soon after birth, while at least one in six pregnancies ends in miscarriage.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “The loss of a baby at any stage of pregnancy is devastating. Families who experience pregnancy loss at maternity units in Wales are supported by bereavement midwives, in conjunction with Sands, and offered memory boxes, which include a certificate of birth.

“Since 2016, stillbirth rates in Wales have shown a downward trend. The latest Perinatal Mortality Surveillance report acknowledges that in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, year-to-year variation in rates is often more pronounced because of lower birth numbers.

“All health boards are committed to improving quality and safety in perinatal care – through enhanced clinical reviews, early warning surveillance, safer preterm birth care, and structured learning from incidents.”

Hywel Dda University Health Board said it recognised “how devastating the loss of a baby is for parents and their families” and said its maternity and neonatal teams worked to provide safe, compassionate and supportive care.

Dana Scott, Director of Midwifery and Professional Governance for Women and Children at Hywel Dda, said the health board had “robust safety measures and clear clinical processes” in place across its maternity services.

She said Hywel Dda’s review processes were aligned with MBRRACE-UK and the Perinatal Mortality Review Tool, ensuring the health board listened, learned and reflected on each baby loss.

Ms Scott added that every family affected by stillbirth or neonatal death had access to dedicated bereavement midwives and nurses, as well as psychological support, follow-up care and opportunities for memory-making.

She said the health board also worked closely with its local Sands group and remained committed to learning from national reports to improve maternity safety locally.

Sands provides support to anyone affected by pregnancy loss or the death of a baby, including a confidential helpline, email support, online groups and local peer-support networks.