Research projects

Sands is involved in several research projects relating to understanding pregnancy outcomes and the death of a baby. We are currently funding the running of a Clinical Study Group for Stillbirth, aimed at directing research into the area.

We are also directly funding two projects through the Wellbeing of Women, the charity arm of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG). One is an investigation of obstetric cholestasis, a pregnancy complication which increases the risk of stillbirth, the second is a project which aims to see whether some unexplained stillbirths are in fact caused by cardiac arrhythmia, an inherited condition resulting in an irregular heart beat. 

We are also involved in work with Dr Alex Heazell, clinical lecturer in Obstetrics at Manchester University whose work aims to improve our understanding of placental function in stillbirth cases. We are also working with Dr Heazell to improve support for bereaved parents with regards to support in consenting to post mortem and the delivery of specialist post mortem services.

Also on these pages we would like to inform you of the work of other research centres which are familiar to us and where researchers are looking for the participation of parents'. There are studies being run by the Oxford Perinatal Mental Health Research Group, such as SAMMI, EPSAS and SASP; the UKNeS study which is looking at women's experiences of near-miss events when, as well as losing her baby, the mother is also seriously ill; and the BRACELET study which is related to bereaved parents whose baby took part in a scientific trial in the neonatal unit before he/she died.

We are also involved in several projects with research centres as a stakeholder co-applicant. These projects are in the process of approaching other funders and we will keep you informed about these as and when funding is secured.