Learning from loss: Leicester researchers aim to improve care for future families

As part of Baby Loss Awareness Week starting today (9 October), Leicester researchers are highlighting how learning from the deaths of babies can help improve care, support families and reduce future loss.

Every year, thousands of families across the UK experience the devastating loss of a baby during pregnancy, birth or shortly afterwards. 

Baby Loss Awareness Week provides an opportunity to remember those babies, recognise the experiences of bereaved parents and families, and reflect on the importance of improving care and outcomes wherever possible.

Researchers in the University of Leicester's TIMMS research group play a leading role in MBRRACE-UK (Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK), a national collaboration led by the University of Oxford. 

Working alongside healthcare professionals, researchers, policy-makers, charities and parent representatives, MBRRACE-UK seeks to understand why mothers and babies die and identify opportunities to improve care across the UK.

A central principle of the programme is that every death should contribute to learning. Through national surveillance, detailed reviews and confidential enquiries, MBRRACE-UK examines the circumstances surrounding deaths to better understand what happened, learn lessons and identify changes in care which could prevent similar tragedies in the future.

Dr Katie Gallagher, Associate Professor and MBRRACE-UK Collaborator, said: “Behind every statistic is a baby who was loved and a family whose lives have been changed forever.

"Baby Loss Awareness Week is an opportunity to remember those babies and to recognise the profound impact that pregnancy and baby loss has on parents, families and communities.

"For those of us involved in MBRRACE-UK, it is also a reminder of why this work matters. Every review, every analysis and every report is ultimately about understanding what happened and whether there are lessons that can help improve care for future families."

Researchers at Leicester lead MBRRACE-UK's perinatal mortality surveillance work, developing systems that help healthcare organisations understand outcomes and identify areas where further review may be needed. The aim is not simply to collect information, but to ensure that evidence is translated into meaningful improvements in care.

Alongside national surveillance, MBRRACE-UK's confidential enquiries bring together clinical experts to review individual cases in depth. These enquiries consider the care received by women and babies, identify examples of good practice, and highlight opportunities for improvement. The findings help inform professional education, clinical guidance and quality improvement initiatives throughout the UK.

The programme also works closely with parent representatives and organisations including Sands, recognising the invaluable contribution that bereaved families make to understanding care and shaping future improvements. Their experiences provide an essential perspective on how services can become not only safer, but also more compassionate and supportive.

Dr Ian Gallimore, MBRRACE-UK Perinatal Programme Manager, said: “One of the most important principles of MBRRACE-UK is that learning should be shared. When families experience the loss of a baby, we owe it to them to ensure that we understand as much as possible about the circumstances surrounding that death and use that knowledge to improve care.

"While we can never remove the pain of those experiences, we hope that the lessons learned can contribute to safer and more compassionate care for others in the future."

Over the past decade, learning generated through MBRRACE-UK has helped inform national policy, clinical guidance and local quality improvement initiatives across the UK. Researchers at Leicester continue to work closely with colleagues at the University of Oxford and healthcare professionals throughout the country to support ongoing efforts to improve outcomes for mothers and babies.

As Baby Loss Awareness Week is marked across the UK, researchers at the University of Leicester join healthcare professionals, charities, families and communities in remembering babies who have died and reaffirm their commitment to learning from loss in order to improve care for future generations.

The University of Leicester also offers a four-year undergraduate MSci Midwifery with Leadership programme where student midwives are educated in the contemporary research and trained to recognise and support vulnerable women and families who may have experienced early pregnancy loss or babies that have life-limiting conditions. 

In clinical practice, they work alongside specialist midwives within Maternity Bereavement Services to gain a better insight of the essential research and delivery of care required to improve the pregnancy outcomes and consequential newborn outcomes.