Sarah and her husband Andrew lost their son, Jacob, at birth in 2005. Sands was a lifeline, connecting them to other bereaved parents and providing crucial support through their hospital, St George’s in Tooting. Sarah got involved with her local Sands, hosting support groups and fundraising, and subsequently attended discussion groups to help trainee midwives understand the experience of bereaved parents. Sarah is Chief Marketing Officer at Killik & Co and has over 25 years’ experience in marketing, innovation and digital development across corporate and charitable organisations, which she hopes will be valuable to Sands in growing income and reaching more people.

Shetal is also known as KSAVI, a trained makeup artist and a positivity coach with a large following in the South Asian community. She found comfort, motivation and gratitude in celebrating both inner and outer beauty following the devastating loss of her second son, Shivai. She used the coping mechanisms learned on her own personal journey through grief to find happiness, and to talk openly about overcoming adversity, to help others. She believes in sharing her vulnerability in a frank and open way, and is committed to reaching out to the South Asian community to help address some of the cultural barriers to talking about pregnancy and baby loss.  Her purpose centres around kindness and helping others who have experienced loss or trauma.

Sangeeta is a consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology in Barts Health Trust and 2020-21 President of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Academic Council (Royal Society of Medicine).

She became involved in Sands in her role leading the Perinatal Service for Newham University Hospital and the implementation of the National Bereavement Care Pathway at Barts Health Trust. Sangeeta was also recently awarded an MA in Medical Education, having written her master’s degree thesis on an aspect of medical training following pregnancy loss: the extent to which newly qualified doctors feel prepared to care for mothers diagnosed with a stillborn baby.