Baby death awareness trek starts

Seventeen babies die each day in the UK, says Sands

Hundreds of families are to join a trek across Wales to raise awareness of the number of stillborn and infant deaths.

Starting in Gwynedd later, trekkers will journey in relays to Cardiff as part of the Sands charity's Why17? campaign.

They will present a petition and a report on stillbirths to the assembly government on Wednesday, 17 June.

Parent Llinos Jones said:"We need a co-ordinated, national strategy to tackle stillbirths and neonatal deaths."

According to Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity, a baby is stillborn in Wales every other day.

A further two infants die shortly after birth every week, making a total of almost 300 babies dying every year in Wales.

No parent whose baby has died wants any other parent to suffer in this way Llinos Jones, Sands campaigner

To raise awareness of the issue and to raise funds for the charity, members of local Sands groups will travel across Wales, through Wrexham, and Powys.

Between 20 to 30 people will set off from Ysbyty Gwynedd Hospital, near Bangor, after releasing balloons in memory of their stillborn children.

By the time the petition is delivered to Cardiff many more will have taken part in the trip, travelling on foot, bicycle, horse and cart and even vintage tractor.

The journey will end at a reception hosted by Kirsty Williams AM where Sands will present its new report - the Saving Babies' Lives Report 2009 - to assembly members and Welsh MPs.

Sands will be calling on the Welsh Assembly Government to ensure that stillbirths and neonatal deaths are recognised as a major health issue in Wales and addressed as a matter of urgency and priority.

The Why17? campaign gets its name from the question 'Why do 17 babies die every single day in the UK?'

STILLBIRTH IN WALES 177 babies are stillborn every year in Wales 115 babies die shortly after birth every year in Wales The stillbirth rate in Wales has not changed in the last 12 years Ten times more babies are stillborn than die of cot death every year in Wales Source: Sands

Llinos Jones, a support worker from Bontnewydd, Caernarfon, who will be taking part in the event, said: "The devastation my family and I felt when our daughter Mari Lois was stillborn was indescribable.

"No parent whose baby has died wants any other parent to suffer in this way, which is why I am taking part in the Sands Why17? journey across Wales.

"I want to raise awareness of the 300 babies dying every year in Wales and I'm urging Welsh politicians to sit up, and take note of all the hundreds of Welsh parents devastated by their babies' deaths.

"We need a co-ordinated, national strategy to tackle stillbirths and neonatal deaths and we need it now."