Experts Praise Move Which Aims To Halve Stillbirth Rate By 2030

NHS England has published advice for parents, doctors and midwives to help reduce the number of stillbirths.

Expert lawyers at Irwin Mitchell have welcomed the Saving Babies’ Lives Care Bundle, which includes information about quitting smoking during pregnancy, monitoring foetal growth and movement, and monitoring the baby during labour.

According to NHS figures there is one stillbirth for every 200 births in the UK, with about a 25% variation in that rate across England.

The NHS also announced that an advice leaflet on reduced foetal movement will be given to all expectant mothers by week 24 of their pregnancy.

It is the first time guidance has been issued specifically for reducing baby deaths during pregnancy and the initiative hopes to halve the rate of stillbirths by 2030.

Figures released by the NHS  have revealed that there are more than 3,000 stillbirths out of about 665,000 births in England every year.

The guidance has been compiled with the help of the Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the British Maternal and Foetal Medicine Society as well as the stillbirth and neonatal death charity Sands.