The story so far

The National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP) for Pregnancy and Baby Loss was launched in 2017.

The NBCP seeks to increase the quality of, and reduce the inequity in, the bereavement care provided by healthcare professionals after the loss of a baby or pregnancy at any gestation.

Piloting the pathway

Initially funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, and with the backing of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Baby Loss, the Pathway has been led by Sands, working closely with a Core Group of partners consisting of baby loss charities and professional organisations. 

Following a ‘call for evidence’, draft pathways were created on the basis of good practice across the country. Subsequently 32 healthcare settings (predominantly hospitals) in England piloted the pathway and evidenced real changes for parents and professionals in their trusts. Following the outcome of the independent evaluations published by Fiveways, the NBCP is being rolled out across England, based on a set of nine bereavement care standards. 

Almost every single trust in England has now signed up to the NBCP!

In Scotland, as part of the Best Start Programme, all 14 NHS Scotland boards have joined the programme. A separate website specific to NBCP Scotland has been launched to support this work. Evaluations of the work in Scotland will be published around April of 2024.

We are working with partners in Wales and Northern Ireland to develop national pathways and hope to share more news in Spring 2024.

We welcome your feedback on how we can improve the resource for professionals and parents. Please contact us via email at bereavementcare@sands.org.uk

“For me personally, most helpful was the kind approach to us as parents… Almost everyone we met spoke with utmost respect and expressed their condolences to us.”

Bereaved Parent

“Truly hope this becomes a national standard that bereaved parents will benefit from. as I cannot express how much it has helped us navigate through this most difficult time.”

Bereaved Parent on the NBCP

Register Your NHS Trust to NBCP

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