About the Campaign

17 babies die every day in the UK, one baby every hour and a half, the tragic victims of stillbirth or neonatal death, a statistic that is repeated every single day across the country.

This shocking figure, the loss of 6,500 babies every year, is something the public is not generally aware of. Most people think stillbirths don’t happen today, yet stillbirth in the UK is 10 times more common than cot death.

At Sands, stillbirth and neonatal death charity, we feel that this level of baby loss is totally unacceptable which is why we have launched the Why17? campaign to raise awareness of this devastating loss and to ask the question;

“Why are 17 babies a day dying and what can be done to halt this national tragedy?”

We have recently taken our campaign to Westminster and launched the Why17? campaign to Parliament on 4 March, 2009. 64 MPs attended the event, as well as over 180 Sands parents, researchers, key supporters and the media. Central to the event was the launch of Sands' Saving Babies Lives Report, 2009.

The report aims to bring together in one document the range of issues which are key to reducing stillbirths and neonatal deaths in the UK. It argues that the numbers of baby deaths is unacceptable, and that failure to recognise the problem at all levels means that little is being done to improve the situation. It highlights the devastating impact of a baby’s death on the parents, their family and friends, and why we believe that many of these deaths could be prevented.

To download a copy of the Report, please follow the link.  To be sent a hard copy in the post please visit our shop.

Please follow the links to find out more about the aims of our campaign and the vital research that is needed to try and drive down this shocking level of baby loss.