Stillbirth rates have risen slightly in London where the rate is already above the national average, according to new ONS data released for 2024.
The stillbirth rate across England has generally been trending downward for the past decade and is now at 3.8 stillbirths per 1000 births.
In London however, it has stayed mostly unchanged since 2018 and saw 4.2 stillbirths per 1000 births in 2024, compared to 4.1 in 2023.
Both figures fall short of the NHS target of 2.6 stillbirths per 1000 births by 2025.
This comes as two landmark reports investigating maternity care were published last week by Donna Ockenden and Baroness Amos.
Jessica Reeves, head of public affairs and campaigns at Sands, a UK pregnancy and baby loss charity, said: “Sands is campaigning for urgent action to tackle the unacceptable inequalities in baby loss that exist for some groups and communities in London and across the UK.
“The recent report by Baroness Amos has now confirmed what bereaved parents have long been saying, that racism and discrimination in maternity care are driving this inequality.
“No baby should have a greater risk of dying because of their race or ethnicity. But change is possible.
“It’s positive that the Government is rolling out the Perinatal Equity and Anti-Discrimination Programme to tackle inequalities in care for Black, Asian, and other underserved communities.
“We’d like to see the Government introducing national targets to end inequalities in the rates of baby death for different groups. The newly announced Maternity Commissioner, and the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, must now drive the level of change that is needed.”
The Maternity Review by Donna Ockenden looked into maternal care in the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and found that more than 500 mothers and babies suffered avoidable harm due to a combination of understaffing, training gaps and a toxic and bullying culture towards patients.
The National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation report by Baroness Amos found that there were failures in maternity and neonatal care across 12 NHS Trusts, with many women being failed due in part to systemic racism and discrimination.
The impact of systemic racism on health outcomes has been consistently highlighted by many organisations and in many publications and yet continue to disproportionately affect women and babies of minority ethnic groups.
In 2024 the Institute of Health Equity (IHE) published a review titled ‘Structural racism, ethnicity and health inequalities in London‘ which detailed ways in which racism affected health outcomes and proposed solutions to address these inequalities.
The IHE report notes that racism affects health outcomes in three ways: by directly damaging physical and mental health, by causing socioeconomic disadvantages, and through the way healthcare services operate.
These three mechanisms are interlinked.
The data shows that the stillbirth rate has reduced across all ethnic groups and that the gap between white women, who have the lowest stillbirth rate, and Black women, who have the highest, has been narrowing over the past decade across the UK.
However, in London, Black women still experience more than double the number of stillbirths as white women, and in fact all minority ethnic groups experience rates higher than the London average.
The data also shows a pattern of higher stillbirth rates with levels of deprivation, with women in the most deprived decile in England experiencing 70% more stillbirths than women in the least deprived decile.
Deprivation and ethnicity are often interlinked, with the How Racism Affects Health report from the Runnymede Trust and Health Foundation highlighting that, for example, 51% of Bangladeshi and 38% of Black households are in the lowest fifth of the income distribution in the UK compared with 18% of white British households.
Another factor which may play a part in London’s higher stillbirth rate is the higher maternal age in London compared to the rest of England.
Maternal age of 35 and above is thought to be linked to a higher risk of stillbirth.
If you or someone you know has been affected by baby loss, please reach out for support.
Sands is the UK’s leading charity working to save babies’ lives and support families touched by pregnancy and baby loss. You can find help on the Sands helpline at 0808 164 3332 or email [email protected].
Featured image: Stock photo from Unsplash by Ugur Akdemir, with thanks
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