Stillbirth charity Sands has launched its latest awareness campaign with the help of the women's weekly magazine Grazia.
The main campaign activity involves a petition which Sands and
Grazia hope will reflect the strength of public opinion on the issue of stillbirth and the efforts to reduce the rates. The partnership is calling on the government to fund research into the causes of stillbirths and to develop new ways of identifying risks through screening.
Sands highlighted research published last month in
The Lancet that showed the UK was ranked 33 out of 35 countries in the developed world for stillbirth rates. Rates have remained the same for the past 10 years but Sands highlighted the example of Australia where investment in research has yielded a reduction in stillbirth rates.
The Sands/
Grazia petition closes on 30 June when it will be presented to the government. To access and sign the petition visit to the Sands website,
www.uk-sands.org.
The wording of the petition:
Too many babies die unexpectedly before they are born, shattering the lives of the families planning their futures around a new arrival. Many of these babies are perfectly formed and would have lived if they had been delivered in time.
We want the UK government to fund research to discover what is causing these babies to die and to develop new ways of screening pregnancies to find out which babies are at risk of stillbirth and save their lives before it is too late.
