GREAT Yarmouth MP Tony Wright attended the parliamentary launch of the Why 17? campaign, a new awareness campaign by Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity.

GREAT Yarmouth MP Tony Wright attended the parliamentary launch of the Why 17? campaign, a new awareness campaign by Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity.

The campaign aims to raise awareness of the fact that 17 babies are stillborn or die prematurely every day, and seeks to ensure that there is adequate care and resources so that as many of these deaths as possible can be avoided.

Mr Wright said: “I was happy to attend the launch of the Why 17? campaign which is rightly working towards the easily attainable goal of ensuring that there is the resources and care in place to avoid these unnecessary deaths.

“I was shocked to discover that there are 6,500 stillbirth and neonatal deaths every year in the UK, and that many families in my local constituency will have experienced the tragic loss of a baby in this way. The new Saving Babies' Lives report clearly outlines the key issues, problem areas and recommendations for change, and I am fully committed to supporting Sands in their call for action now to make a difference so more lives can be saved in the future.”

Neal Long, chief executive at Sands, said: “For too long these deaths have been ignored and yet here is compelling evidence to suggest that many babies' lives could be saved with better antenatal care, increased funding for maternity services, more midwives and increased funding for research. We want to see action now to save babies' lives.”