Baby Loss Awareness Week: Recognising Grief & Confronting Inequality

By Naomi Matioli

It is Baby Loss Awareness Week, and my social media feed is currently filled with personal stories, suggestions of support, and space to acknowledge grief. The week covers all types of loss, including miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death, and termination for medical reasons.

Tommy’s states that 1 in 2 UK adults are affected by baby loss each year. It has been incredible to see so many of these experiences spoken about openly, particularly when so many women have previously been encouraged to keep pregnancies private until 12 weeks, “just in case”, which can lead to further isolation. 

Earlier this year, I became part of the statistics when my twin daughters died shortly after being born, becoming two of the nearly 2,000 babies each year who die within 28 days of birth (classed as a neonatal death).

After any experience like this, there is a painful search for answers; from yourself, from the doctors, from anyone who will listen. However, I have not had to carry the additional question of whether inequalities associated with my ethnicity or socioeconomic circumstances contributed to what happened.

Baby loss can affect any family, but the risks are not shared equally.

Data shows that babies of Black and Asian ethnicity continue to experience higher rates of stillbirth and neonatal death than babies of White ethnicity. Rates are also substantially higher among babies whose mothers live in the most deprived areas than among those in the least deprived. Babies who are of black ethnicity are more than twice as likely to be stillborn than babies of white ethnicity. Deprivation and ethnic inequalities overlap, adding to the disadvantage experienced by some communities.

These findings cannot tell us why each baby died. They do, however, show persistent inequalities that demand attention and action. We should be asking why these gaps remain, and what needs to change to close them.

That question connects with the wider ambition of Start Strong, whose work we are supporting at Purpose Union: ensuring every baby and young child has a fair start in life, from pregnancy until five years old. 

Start Strong recognises that children’s earliest experiences and opportunities are shaped by the circumstances into which they are born. Poverty, insecure housing, discrimination, poor health and inaccessible services can limit the support and security available to families. Its work seeks long-term change to create the conditions in which all babies, young children, and their families can thrive.

For me, the inequalities in baby loss emphasise why that wider ambition matters. A strong start for everyone requires us to look at the support available to families from the earliest stages, and to confront the gaps that persist across our society. 

Baby Loss Awareness Week gives us space to remember our babies, acknowledge grief, and help people feel less alone. It should also prompt us to confront the inequalities behind the  statistics and ask more of those with the power to address them.