Small reduction in stillbirth rate for England and Wales

Today’s data release shows a reduction in England and Wales from 4.1 stillbirths per 1,000 births in 2021 to 4 stillbirths per 1,000 in 2022.  

The rate of stillbirth is still higher than it was in 2019 and 2020.

This year’s data also shows that at 3.9 deaths per 1,000 babies, the rate of stillbirth in England is slightly lower than it is in Wales. Our Sands & Tommy’s Joint Policy Unit are currently looking at this information to try and understand why this is the case.

Head of the Sands and Tommy’s Joint Policy Unit Robert Wilson says:  

"A decrease in the rate of stillbirth is very welcome but still too many families are suffering the heartbreak of losing a baby. For England, we are not on track to meet Government ambitions to halve the rate of stillbirths by 2025 (to 2.6 stillbirths per 1,000 births) compared to 2010 levels.

"With political will more progress is possible. We know that there is still a significant gap between the UK and those countries with the lowest rates of stillbirth.

“We need to take a step back, properly evaluate our current approach and ensure we are putting in place a system that supports safe care.”

Our Joint Policy Unit’s recent Saving Babies’ Lives Progress Report made clear that there is a range of systemic issues that need to be addressed to improve outcomes for parents and their babies.

The report painted a concerning picture: progress in reducing baby loss has slowed and there is a risk of going backwards.  

Too often babies are dying as a result of maternity care not being in line with nationally-agreed standards, and lessons are still not being properly learned after babies die.  

Professor Alex Heazell, Director of the Tommy's Centre for Maternal and Fetal Health at the University of Manchester, says: 

"Experiencing the death of a baby before birth has a devastating impact on women and birthing people. It has a huge impact on the general wellbeing of couples, particularly a negative psychological impact. It can also increase the likelihood of complications in subsequent pregnancies. 

"Our research shows that stillbirth has an important and long-lasting health impact on parents, so while it is reassuring that stillbirth rates have reduced compared to last year, more must be done, particularly to ensure safe staffing levels and adoption of best practice to significantly reduce stillbirth rates across the UK so fewer families have to experience this heartbreak." 

Thankfully, today’s data release does not show a continuation of last year’s rise in stillbirths. But it does show that we are far from on track in significantly reducing the number of babies’ lives lost. The Government must do more to commit the resources needed to ensure its maternity safety ambitions can be met.

Government and the NHS have said that they will act on the findings of recent investigations into maternity services, including the recent independent investigation led by Dr Bill Kirkup on maternity and neonatal services in East Kent.

But a range of initiatives aimed at improving safety have not yet led to the fundamental change needed to make more real progress on reducing rates of pregnancy loss and baby death.