Delyth Jewell 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.