MS, Deputy Minister for
Social Care, Mental Health and Women's Health: This week marks
Baby Loss Awareness Week, which is a time to remember and reflect
on loss during pregnancy, birth or infancy, and to recognise the
profound and lasting impact this has on parents and families. The
loss of a baby is one of the most devastating experiences a
family will ever face, and the Welsh Government is committed to
ensuring that every bereaved parent and family has access to
high-quality, consistent and compassionate care, wherever they
live in Wales. Alongside our ongoing work to improve support for
families, plans are in place to illuminate the Welsh Government
building in Cardiff for the Wave of Light on 15 October.
In recent years, health boards, maternity and neonatal services,
bereavement specialists, charities and bereaved families have
worked together to strengthen bereavement care across Wales to
ensure that support is available for parents when it is
needed. I thank everyone who has contributed to this vital work,
particularly the parents who have shared their experiences to
help improve care for others. I thank them for their bravery and
determination to drive for changes.
A key part of this work has been the development of national care
pathways specifically for pregnancy and baby loss. The pathways
were launched across Wales in June 2026, and work has continued
with health boards to embed them consistently in local services.
They complement the wider national framework for bereavement care
by setting out the support families should expect to receive
following pregnancy loss, stillbirth, neonatal death or infant
death.
Since June, the pathways have provided a clear national approach
to care and support. In practice, this means ensuring that
families are treated with dignity and understanding through
sensitive communication, clear written information, choices about
memory-making and funeral arrangements, and timely referral or
signposting to specialist and community support, regardless of
where in Wales a loss occurs. The pathways also promote
continuity of care, so that families do not have to repeatedly
retell their story or navigate services alone at a time of acute
distress.
For staff and services, the pathways provide a shared,
evidence-informed framework for consistent practice, training and
improvement. They support health boards to identify gaps,
strengthen local arrangements and embed compassionate bereavement
care as a core element of quality, safety and dignity in
maternity and neonatal services.
Since the pathways were launched in June, we have continued to
work with NHS Wales Performance and Improvement and Sands Cymru
to ensure consistent implementation across Wales, while of course
recognising families' individual needs and the circumstances of
local services. We will continue to monitor their implementation,
share lessons and support improvements so that every family can
receive the compassionate care they need.
Supporting families following baby loss is an important part of
our wider commitment to improving maternity, neonatal and women's
health services in Wales. The Quality Statement for Maternity and
Neonatal Services sets clear expectations that services should be
safe, equitable and centred on the needs of women, babies and
families, including families experiencing bereavement.
During Baby Loss Awareness Week, I also want to recognise the
invaluable contribution of charities, voluntary organisations,
bereavement specialists and support groups, including Sands
Cymru. Their expertise, dedication and compassion make a real
difference to bereaved parents and families across Wales.
To every family who has experienced the loss of a baby, I offer
my deepest and most profound sympathy. I know that no words
anyone can give will ever lessen the loss you have suffered, but
I am determined to make changes so that fewer babies' lives are
lost. During this Baby Loss Awareness Week, we remember your
babies, we recognise your grief, and we reaffirm our commitment
to making bereavement care in Wales better, and ensuring that it
is compassionate, consistent and responsive to the needs of every
family.
