Speaking during Baby Loss Awareness Week (9-15 October), the UK’s biggest fertility research charity, Genesis Research Trust, warns the causes of baby loss are under-researched as Neonatal deaths have increased in the UK since 2014, according to latest figures.*
D. M. Sterling, CEO of Genesis Research Trust, said: “Baby loss is one of the most devastating experience that anybody can experience in their lives. Yet miscarriage for example is a very under-researched area despite being so common. It carries a hidden psychological burden.”
Baby Loss Awareness Week is the annual initiative to highlight how many people endure miscarriages, stillbirths and neonatal death, and increase political pressure to improve the statistics and related medical care. This year’s theme is ‘Break the Silence’, encouraging open discussions about the impact of baby loss.
The initiative is a co-operation of charities working in this field, including Genesis Research Trust – as well as the public.
Ms Sterling added: “There’s been countless reports into the societal impact of miscarriage and still birth in terms of affecting people going back to work and the extra visits to their GP or hospitals with mental health issues such as depression and relationship breakdown. It is important we improve the amount of funding that’s coming into pregnancy related research. Reducing neonatal deaths would save society a significant sum of money and families undue hardships.”
Genesis Research Trust is asking those who have suffered baby loss to share their stories and join their social media campaign #FakeSmileSelfie - recognising that many people bravely hide their grief without the opportunity to talk about it.
#FakeSmileSelfie encourages people to post a selfie with a photo or drawing of a smile over their face.
The fertility research charity urges that policy makers must translate the latest medical research around the causes of baby loss into clinical practice. Genesis Research Trust continues to break new ground in supporting the scientific understanding of the causes of miscarriage and stillbirth to enable at-risk women to be identified and better treated.
Notes to Editors
Reference:
1. “ONS Publishes Stillbirth / Neonatal Mortality / Infant Mortality Statistics 2017” - https://genesisresearchtrust.com/news/ons-publishes-stillbirth-neonatal-mortality-infant-mortality-statistics-2017/
About Genesis Research Trust
Founded in 1978, Genesis Research Trust, based at Imperial College London, is the largest collaboration of reproductive health researchers in the UK, founded by Chairman Professor Robert Winston.
It is the only charity of its kind to lie consistently at the heart of original leading-edge research investigating why and how things can go wrong with conception, pregnancy and birth; delivering real evidence-based results for medical treatments and outcomes of worldwide significance.
Our mission
We fund medical research carried out by world-class scientists and doctors, passionate about giving everyone who wants to have children the chance to experience a healthy pregnancy and have a healthy family.
Genesis Research Trust’s charity registration number is 1179130
Go to www.genesisresearchtrust.com for more information