Sands is a member of member of the Baby Loss Awareness Alliance, which hosts annual Baby Loss Awareness Week. 

The week takes place on 9-15 October and is an opportunity:

• For bereaved parents, and their families and friends, to unite with others across the world to commemorate their babies’ lives
• To raise awareness about the issues surrounding pregnancy and baby loss in the UK, and push for tangible improvements in bereavement care and support
• To let the public and key stakeholders know what charities and other supportive organisations are doing on bereavement care and support around pregnancy and baby loss.

The charities leading Baby Loss Awareness Week are committed to raising awareness of pregnancy and baby loss, providing support to anyone affected by pregnancy loss and the death of a baby, working with health professionals and services to improve bereavement care, and reducing preventable deaths.

Sands is a member of the Pregnancy & Baby Charities Network

The Pregnancy & Baby Charities Network represents UK charities whose focus is to:

- reduce the number of babies who die during pregnancy, birth or in the early weeks of life

- reduce morbidity in newborn babies and improve care for these babies and their parents

- improve care throughout the path to parenthood; before, during and after pregnancy and after losing a baby or pregnancy

The Pregnancy & Baby Charities Network is governed by agreed Terms of Reference.

Read our UK Manifesto 2021 setting out key priorities.

We have also produced Manifestos for the elections in Scotland and Wales on 6 May 2021:

• Read the Scotland Manifesto 2021 setting out key priorities for Scotland or an expanded version with added background.
• Read the Wales Manifesto 2021 setting out key priorities for Wales, also in Welsh or an expanded version with added background, also in Welsh.

Sands leads the National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP) project

Sands leads the NBCP in collaboration with other charities and with the support of the Department of Health and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Baby Loss.

Pregnancy loss and the death of a baby is not a rare occurrence. Thousands of parents each year will experience the devastation of their baby dying before, during or shortly after birth or within the first years of life.

The quality of care that bereaved families receive when their baby dies can have long-lasting effects. Good care cannot remove parents’ pain and grief, but it can help parents through this devastating time. Poor care can and does make things much worse.

The bereavement care received by parents varies hugely regionally. All bereaved parents should be offered the same high standard of parent-centered, empathic and safe care when a baby dies. 

Sands is part of the MBRRACE-UK collaboration

This is a collaboration of researchers, healthcare professionals, and parent representatives which collects information on all mothers and babies who die in the UK every year.

This is done through a national audit programme and is commissioned by all UK governments to collect information about all late fetal losses, stillbirths, neonatal deaths and maternal deaths across the UK. The programme tracks information about where and why babies and mothers die every year. You can find more detailed information about what data is collected by the audits and how this is done in this guide.

Sands ensures that the voices of bereaved parents are at the centre of their work. We put forward ideas for which baby deaths we think need further investigation. These are done by MBRRACE-UK panels of experts in a confidential enquiry process. The UK is famous for its confidential enquiries into maternal deaths which has had an exponential impact on improving care and saving lives over several decades. Enquiries into baby deaths aim to do the same thing, by analysing in detail certain deaths to see whether care followed guidelines and how we need to improve care for future women and babies. 

Sands is part of the PMRT collaboration

The PMRT is an online tool for reviewing every baby death. It is designed by a collaboration of researchers, healthcare professionals, and parent representatives.

Sands is a key partner in this work, ensuring the voices of bereaved parents are heard in its design and delivery.

Sands co-leads the Maternity Consortium

Tommy’s and Sands are co-leading the Maternity Consortium as members of the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance. Other members of the Maternity Consortium are: National Maternity Voices, Pregnancy and Baby Charities Network, Five X More CIC, Muslim Women’s Network UK and LGBT Mummies.

The aim of the Maternity Consortium is bring about action to reduce health inequalities for families throughout the whole pregnancy journey from pre-conception and through the first year of a baby’s life.

Sands is a partner of the NCMD

The NCMD in England works from the University of Bristol and collects information on children who die under the age of 18 years aiming to identify trends and recommendations for saving lives.

Sands is a partner of the NCMD, ensuring bereaved parents' experiences are at heart of their work and research.

Sands is part of the National Hub in Scotland

The National Hub for Reviewing and Learning from the Deaths of Children and Young People is run by Healthcare Improvement Scotland. It collects information on children and young people in care who die. Its aim is to identify trends and recommendations for saving future lives.

Sands is a member of the group, ensuring bereaved parents' experiences are central to this work.

Sands is part of the One Voice collaboration

One Voice is a collaboration between the Royal College of Midwives, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Royal College of Paediatricians and Child Health, Sands (the stillbirth and neonatal death charity) and National Childbirth Trust. The collaboration aims to ensure the best outcome and for mother and baby and best possible experience for mothers, fathers and families, through pregnancy, birth and postnatal care. At a time of renewed interest in transforming maternity services across the UK One Voice aims to bring together organisations that collectively represent the voice, experience and expertise of parents and professionals.