Baby Loss Awareness Week 2022

Every two hours, somewhere in the UK, a baby dies in the final stages of pregnancy, or in the first moments of life. Baby Loss Awareness Week provides us with opportunity:

• To support bereaved parents and families and to unite with others across the world to commemorate their babies' lives and lost pregnancies.

• To raise awareness about pregnancy and baby loss.

• To drive improvements in care and support for anyone affected and in the prevention of pregnancy and baby loss.

The national Baby Loss Awareness Week is led by Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity, in collaboration with more than 40 charities across the UK.

Sands is the stillbirth and neonatal death charity, operating throughout the UK to provide support to anyone affected by the death of a baby. It works to improve the care bereaved parents receive and promotes research to help reduce the loss of babies' lives.

This year Baby Loss Awareness Week has a general theme of 'Stepping Stones'. After pregnancy loss, life can take a path that was never expected. The week will touch on the steps of that journey, and how they are unique to everyone. Some steps along the journey can feel harder than others, but there is always a hand to support anyone when they feel unsteady.

To honour and remember every little life lost, you may like to take part in the annual global Wave of Light. People around the world light a candle or candles at 7pm on Saturday the 15th of October in memory of the baby or babies they have lost. Photos of these candles on social media create a wave of light that spreads across the globe. You can join this virtual wave of light by adding your photo on the night, with the hashtag #WaveofLight.

To find out more information about baby loss awareness week click here.