Baby Loss Awareness Week: understanding maternity reviews following the death of a baby
Baby Loss Awareness Week, 9 to 15 October 2026, is an opportunity to remember babies who have died and to recognise the experiences of bereaved families. For parents facing the devastating loss of a baby during pregnancy, birth, or shortly afterwards, one of the most important questions is often: why did this happen?
Within the NHS, hospitals are expected to undertake a formal review following a stillbirth or neonatal death. These reviews are designed to help families understand what happened, identify any lessons that can be learned, and improve the safety of maternity and neonatal services for the future.
What happens after a baby dies?
When a baby dies before, during, or shortly after birth, the hospital where the mother and baby received care should carry out a review. This is known as a perinatal or neonatal review. During the review, a multidisciplinary team examines the mother’s and baby’s medical records and considers the events that led up to the baby’s death, including the care they received.
The review process is separate from a coroner’s investigation or inquest. It forms part of standard NHS care and is intended to ensure that bereaved parents gain as much information as possible about the circumstances surrounding their baby’s death.
The Perinatal Mortality Review Tool (PMRT)
Most NHS maternity and neonatal units use the Perinatal Mortality Review Tool (PMRT), a nationally recognised framework developed to support objective, robust and standardised reviews of perinatal deaths. The PMRT is used to review deaths from 22 weeks’ gestation onwards, including late fetal losses, stillbirths and neonatal deaths occurring within the first 28 days of life.
The PMRT has two principal aims:
- to provide answers for bereaved parents about the care they and their baby received and whether different care might have changed the outcome;
- to ensure that learning from each baby’s death improves future care, reduces safety-related adverse events and helps prevent avoidable baby deaths.
The PMRT follows the principle of ‘review once, review well’, promoting a structured and consistent approach across NHS services.
How are parents involved?
Parents are recognised as a central part of the review process. Guidance accompanying the PMRT states that bereaved parents should be informed that a review will take place and should be given the opportunity to contribute their views, concerns and questions.
Parents do not attend the review meeting itself. However, information they provide can be considered as part of the investigation. The PMRT guidance notes that parents have a unique perspective on the pregnancy and their baby’s care and that their views can enhance the quality of the review.
Once the review has been completed, parents should be offered an appointment with their consultant to discuss the findings. Where relevant, post-mortem findings should also be reviewed and explained. The aim is to provide parents with a meaningful and understandable explanation of the review’s conclusions and any implications for future pregnancies.
Why are these reviews important?
For many families, the review process represents an opportunity to obtain answers about the circumstances surrounding their baby’s death. The PMRT is specifically designed to help clinical teams reach a clear understanding of why a baby died, recognising that in some cases a definitive explanation may not be possible despite extensive investigations.
The review process is also a vital patient safety tool. Information gathered through local reviews contributes to wider organisational and national learning. Review findings can help NHS organisations identify themes, develop improvements in care and reduce the risk of similar events occurring in the future.
How can a maternity review assist in a medical negligence claim?
A hospital review is not the same as a legal investigation and does not determine whether medical negligence occurred. However, it can be an important source of information for families who have concerns about the care they or their baby received.
The PMRT review involves a detailed examination of the clinical care provided and considers whether different actions may have affected the outcome. It also results in the production of a technical clinical report and a plain-language explanation for parents.
For medical negligence lawyers, review findings can provide valuable insight into the chronology of events and help identify areas that may require further independent investigation. They can also assist in understanding which records and clinical issues require detailed expert scrutiny.
It is important to remember that the findings of a hospital review are not determinative of legal liability. Medical negligence claims require independent legal assessment and expert evidence. Nevertheless, a thorough hospital review can provide an important starting point for families seeking answers following the death of a baby.
Looking forward
No review process can take away the pain of losing a baby. However, a thorough and transparent review can help families understand what happened and ensure that lessons are learned. The stated aim of the PMRT is not only to provide answers for parents but also to improve care and prevent future baby deaths wherever possible.
If you have lost a baby and have concerns about the care you received, specialist legal advice can help you understand the findings of any hospital review and determine whether further investigation may be appropriate.