Trust to work with charities to help prevent baby loss

AN NHS trust is raising awareness of how to keep children safe as part of Baby Loss Awareness Week.

Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust is working with 60 charities to encourage better understanding of miscarriage and stillbirth.

At an event yesterday at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital, midwives and childcare experts will give advice on the dangers of smoking in pregnancy or near babies, safer sleeping and how to monitor babies’ movement during pregnancy.

Information will be provided on fire safety, how to fit child car seats safely and what to do if a baby is choking. The event runs from 10am to 4pm.

Janet Cairns, the trust’s Head of Midwifery, said: “We are working hard to reduce stillbirths, miscarriages and baby deaths in the UK in line with the Government ambition to halve rates by 2025, but we understand how devastating the loss of one baby is to their family.

“We want parents to have practical advice so they know how to keep their baby safe during pregnancy and after their babies are born.”

According to the charity Tommy’s, one in four women will experience a miscarriage in their lifetime and nine babies are stillborn every day in the UK.

In 2016, there were 3,430 stillbirths and 2,136 neonatal deaths, latest figures from the charity show.