Sands is delighted and proud to announce an exciting collaboration with Dope Black Mums and Dope Black Dads.

This transformative partnership has an ambitious vision to ensure that the inequalities in perinatal mortality that affect Black communities are addressed, and to ensure that when a baby does die, all Black mothers and fathers can access the care and support that they need and deserve.

At the heart of Sands’ work is the voice of bereaved parents – and it is vitally important that this is the voice of all parents, regardless of their culture, ethnicity or religion.

At a time when inequalities in perinatal mortality and bereavement support have been highlighted by both Covid-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement, it is crucial to find ways to address these.

This partnership provides a unique opportunity to ensure the voices of bereaved Black parents are heard, and to ensure the care and support they receive is culturally sensitive and appropriate.

I am absolutely delighted that we are able to work in partnership with Dope Black Mums and Dope Black Dads. It is crucial that we work with them to better understand how to provide the right bereavement support for Black parents.

Sands wants to be there for all those affected by the death of a baby, providing the support that is right for each individual person. The partnership also provides a significant opportunity to help to reduce the inequalities in baby death by ensuring the voice of bereaved Black parents is heard in all aspects of prevention and research.

- Chief Executive of Sands, Clea Harmer

Working together, Dope Black Mums and Dope Black Dads will guide Sands in providing culturally appropriate and accessible bereavement support for all Black mothers and fathers who need it. They will also ensure that the voices of Black parents are included in all Sands supported research into perinatal mortality, and that this is represented in proportion to the increased risk faced by Black mothers and their babies.

We're pleased to be partnering with Sands. Black mothers are nearly twice as likely to suffer stillbirths and amongst our network we have parents that have personally experienced the loss of a baby during birth or after and they therefore know the value of the care that Sands provides.

We also know that many families from Black backgrounds can feel alienated and not fully understood by mainstream support services. So, it’s fantastic to be able to support and guide Sands to ensure that mothers and fathers from the Black community feel able to access culturally sensitive support during baby loss.

- Dope Black Mums and Dope Black Dads

Keep in touch with our new partners on social media:

Follow @DopeBlackDads on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter

Follow @DopeBlackMums on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter