On October 16, 2025, St Thomas' Hospital in central London opened a new suite designed specifically to support families experiencing early pregnancy loss. Just a day later, the urgent need for such compassionate care was echoed in Parliament as Alison Bennett MP marked Baby Loss Awareness Week with an emotional call for sweeping maternity reform across the UK. Together, these developments highlight both the deeply personal and the profoundly systemic challenges facing those affected by pregnancy and baby loss in Britain today.
The new suite at St Thomas' Hospital was created to offer a home-like, less clinical and more private space for patients who have lost pregnancies before 18 weeks. Whether the loss comes from miscarriage, termination for medical reasons, ectopic pregnancy, or molar pregnancy, the suite aims to provide a dignified environment for grieving and healing. According to BBC, the facility was designed with the input of former patients, including Serafina Pooja Jay, who experienced her own traumatic miscarriage several years ago.
Ms Jay, who helped design the suite, described it as "a place for patients to acknowledge their loss and would help them feel less lonely and isolated." She recalled her own loss as "very, very traumatic," adding, "It's part of your life forever." For her, the suite represents a step forward in recognizing the enduring impact of early pregnancy loss and in ensuring that others "would not have to suffer as much."
The project was brought to life through the efforts of research nurse and early pregnancy specialist Leanna Brace, whose campaign secured funding from Guy's & St Thomas' Charity. Brace emphasized the pressing need for such a space: "Early pregnancy loss isn't as recognised as later losses, but the effects are the same," she told BBC. "It can be a really, really awful experience and it stays with you. I want to be able to do something to make that journey a little better."
One of the suite’s defining features is an extra bed for birthing partners, a detail that Brace believes is crucial. "Having somewhere for them to stay, it makes them feel involved, it makes them feel acknowledged and it acknowledges their loss too," she explained. The suite, located on the hospital’s gynaecology ward, is expected to be used daily, as St Thomas' sees an early pregnancy loss each day. Plans are already underway to open a second facility of this kind in the near future.
While these improvements at St Thomas' reflect a growing recognition of the emotional toll of early pregnancy loss, broader concerns about the state of maternity care in the UK have come to the fore during Baby Loss Awareness Week. On October 17, Alison Bennett MP addressed Parliament with a powerful tribute to bereaved families in Mid Sussex and beyond, highlighting the devastating consequences of what she described as "avoidable failings" in NHS maternity care.
Bennett shared the story of a local couple who lost their baby in 2022 due to failures by the University Hospitals Sussex NHS Trust. Quoting the family, she relayed, "Our son’s death was preventable. Living without him is unbearable, knowing he should be here today." According to Sussex Express, this tragic loss is not isolated: two babies die preventable deaths every day under NHS care, and University Hospitals Sussex has paid out £58 million in maternity-related negligence claims over the past five years – the second highest figure for any NHS trust in England.
In her remarks, Bennett argued that these figures "point to a larger, systemic problem," with families "paying the ultimate price." She criticized the government for failing to implement immediate and essential actions recommended in Donna Ockenden’s report into maternity failings elsewhere in the NHS. She also condemned the decision to cut Service Development Funding for maternity services from £95 million in 2024–25 to just £2 million the following year, as well as the move to drop the requirement for every Integrated Care Board to establish a women’s health hub.
"How can we become the safest country in the world to have a baby when 65% of maternity units are not considered safe by the CQC?" Bennett asked Parliament. "These preventable deaths must end." Her call for reform is not hers alone. Alongside fellow Liberal Democrat MPs John Milne (Horsham) and Jess Brown-Fuller (Chichester), Bennett is championing the demands of Sussex families for accountability and change.
Central to these demands is the call for Donna Ockenden, whose investigations into other maternity scandals have earned her widespread trust, to lead a long-awaited review into maternity services at University Hospitals Sussex. One bereaved family working with Bennett stated, "Mr Streeting promised a review of nine babies’ deaths under UHSussex’s care in June, and we are asking him to deliver on that promise by appointing Donna Ockenden to lead it. She is the one person families trust to investigate and deliver truth, accountability, and change."
Bennett’s advocacy extends beyond local investigations. She is calling for a full public inquiry into the national maternity crisis and for comprehensive mental health support for all women who miscarry – not just those who have experienced three or more losses, as is currently required. As part of this year’s Baby Loss Awareness Week theme, “Together, we care,” she urged Parliament and the public to stand with bereaved families and fight for the changes needed to prevent future tragedies. "The pain these families experience will never go away. But we can – and must – do better for them," she said.
The stories emerging from both St Thomas' Hospital and the halls of Westminster paint a picture of a country grappling with grief, resilience, and the urgent need for reform. The new suite in London stands as a testament to the power of patient-led change and compassionate care, while the calls from Sussex and Parliament underscore the scale of the challenges that remain. For families who have lost babies, whether through early pregnancy loss or preventable failures in maternity care, the message is clear: their pain is real, their voices matter, and their fight for recognition and reform continues.
As more families come forward to share their experiences – as invited by Sussex campaigners through TFOB.org.uk – the hope is that both local innovations and national reforms will finally bring about the accountability, support, and dignity that bereaved parents so urgently deserve. The journey is far from over, but with each new initiative and every call for change, the UK moves a step closer to a more compassionate and safer future for families everywhere.
