We’re delighted that NHS England today announced more mental health support for bereaved mothers.

With 26 new hubs bringing together maternity services, reproductive health and psychological therapy under one roof including for those bereaved by the death of a baby, this will be a great start in helping to fill the current gaps for bereaved parents.

Sands has been campaigning on this issue alongside others since 2019.

During Baby Loss Awareness Week that year, we called for the Government to take action to ensure that all parents who experience pregnancy or baby loss and need specialist psychological support can access it, at a time and place that is right for them, free of charge, wherever they live.

In a survey, 60% of bereaved parents had told us they felt they needed this, but were not able to access it on the NHS. Information gathered from health services by the Baby Loss Awareness Alliance also showed that, too often, psychological support was unavailable, inaccessible or inappropriate with bereaved parents falling through the gaps between policy and funding.

Read more about the Out of Sight, Out of Mind campaign.

Bereavement care in hospital has improved greatly in recent years and these hubs will provide a vital link between the care given to parents in hospital and the ongoing specialist support they may need in the community.

We will continue to work with Government and local hubs to ensure they meet the psychological care needs of bereaved parents.

Read the full NHS announcement here.