Around 4,000 babies are stillborn each year and another 2,500 die before they reach 4 weeks old. That's 6,500 babies each year who won't reach their 1st birthday as a result of stillbirth or neonatal death.

 

I will be running the Asics London 10k in July for SANDs - a charity that works hard to support those who are unlucky enough to experience Stillbirth And Neonatal Death.

 

Each year thousands of couples must deal with the unexpected death of a baby, often resulting in a traumatic experience giving birth to a dead baby or losing the baby shortly after labour. Nobody ever wants to talk about the death of a baby, but it’s out there and happening to 17 families a day.

 

Stillbirths happen ten times more frequently than cot deaths: 1 in 2,500 babies die from cot death; 1 in 200 are stillborn. The majority of stillbirths happen in pregnancies that were considered to be "low risk" which comes as a shock to the family. In many cases the baby died near the end of the pregnancy, which means that if they had been delivered prematurely he or she could have survived and be living with their family today.

 

The death of a baby is a devastating experience which may have happened or could happen to yourself, friends or relatives. At SANDs, there are people who understand what it’s like because many of them have been through the saddening experience themselves and are able to offer bereavement counselling and continued support to those who have lost their baby during pregnancy or after birth.

 

By supporting my run and donating to SANDs, you can help improve the quality of care for premature babies and fund research into the prevention of stillbirths, as well as providing support for parents and relatives suffering from this heartbreaking experience in the UK.

 

Please recommend this page on your Facebook and share it on Twitter to help spread the word so I can raise even more for such a worthwhile charity. Just one click could go a long way.

 

Thank you for your support :) x

 

For more information visit www.uk-sands.org or call the national helpline on 020 7436 5881.