Incredibly, every day in the UK, 17 babies are stillborn or die shortly after birth.
For the devastated parents, family and friends the question is simply why?
Why did their precious and much wanted baby die?
At Sands we ask the same simple question, why?
Why are so many babies born dead every year?
Why do some babies die in the very first weeks of their young lives?
Imagine for a moment how that feels for those left behind. Every baby is special – the bond between parent, family and baby begins long before birth.
You can feel a baby moving in the womb, watch it grow, imagine what sort of person he or she might become, dream of the future. Love is there very early on. The impact of the death of a baby ripples out to everyone involved.
“One of the hardest things is not knowing why. I am a logical person and I know I could accept it if I could understand it. It has taken me almost a year to accept that we will not find an answer.”
Sands knows that much more could be done to prevent these tragic and cruel deaths.
On 13th June 2008 Sands Why 17? campaign was officially launched to try to find answers to some of these questions. To find out more visit www.why17.org