Tragically, more than 3000 babies are stillborn in the UK every year, but, experts say many of these lives could be saved by offering some simple extra scans and measures.
Jeremy Hunt, please offer all pregnant women Doppler scans and GAP as part of their antenatal care.
Why is this important?
Offering women Doppler scans to measure blood flow between the placenta and foetus, could cut the number of stillbirths each year by 50%. Another method of monitoring, which could cut the number by a further 22%, is the Growth Assisted Protocol (GAP). This works by giving each mother a customised growth chart to help ascertain the expected size that her baby should be throughout her pregnancy, so if the baby's growth falls then the mother is given extra, and potentially life saving, scans.
Our Story
Our daughter Sophie Louise Kirk was stillborn on 11th March 2016 after a period of reduced movement, it was the hardest day of our life, and she was just perfect. Since Sophie's death I set up a Facebook support group called 'Sophie's Angels' to help other grieving families, and a Facebook page called 'Our Angel Sophie' as a way of remembering our baby girl.
Sophie would have likely been saved by either Doppler scans or GAP as she passed away from placental insufficiency, (possibly caused by a blood clotting disorder).
