A new research paper is published today in the British Medical Journal, titled 'Identifying Risk Factors for Stillbirth'. The paper, by Jason Gardosi, looks at fetal growth restriction and how failure to detect it plays in the death of a baby.  Sands issued a statement to the media in response to the paper, which has so far been covered by The Times and The Times online.  See below for the charity's full statement:



Response from Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity, to the research paper: Maternal and Fetal risk factors for stillbirth: population based study, to be published on BMJ.com, title: Identifying risk factors for stillbirth



Sands welcomes this important piece of research in understanding the role fetal growth restriction and the failure to detect it plays in the death of a baby.

"17 babies die every day in the UK, before, during and shortly after birth. Many of these mums are in low-risk pregnancies close to or at term and the death of their baby comes as a devastating shock. To discover subsequently that their baby was not low-risk at all but was growth restricted and that this is a well known risk factor for stillbirth, leaves families bewildered and struggling to come to terms with their grief. This research shows that routine antenatal care fails hundreds of families every year and action to improve care is desperately needed." Charlotte Bevan, Sands Research & Prevention Advisor.