According to the Office for National Statistics, a shocking 3,564 stillbirths occurred in the UK in 2014 even though most are "preventable". 

 

As it stands, 4.6 per 1,000 births in the UK are stillbirths and, as stated by The Lancet, Britain ranks 21st out of 35 developed nations for stillbirth rates. In fact, the annual rate has fallen just 1.8% since 2000 - compared with 6.8% in the Netherlands and 3.5% in Poland.

 

Professor Joy Lawn of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has said that most are "preventable", adding: "We have much of the information we need to save up to 600 lives every year."

 

 

Talking to The Daily Mail about the devastating rate, Charlotte Bevan of stillbirth and neonatal death charity Sands, said: “Our progress is way behind countries like the Netherlands, who are moving four times faster than we are to save lives."

 

"It’s devastating for families not just to think their child might have lived if only they’d received the right care, but also to know another child tomorrow will die in similar circumstances because units aren’t implementing guidance.”

 

Sadly, according to Ms Bevan, "60 per cent of babies who die before they are born and close to their due dates might have been saved if basic guidelines in antenatal care were followed.”

 

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has pledged to cut the stillbirth rate by 20% in England in the next four years and 50% by 2030.


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