Each year in the UK around 50,000 babies are born too early.  Every week more than 25 babies die as a result of complications arising from premature birth. Premature birth is the single biggest cause of death among infants under one year old in the UK.

Many babies born early often face difficulties with breathing, feeding and fighting infection. Some babies who survive an early delivery can face life-long debilitating conditions such as cerebral palsy or developmental problems.

Although more premature babies are surviving, thanks to improved neonatal care, very little progress has been made in actually understanding why early labour occurs in some women, diagnosis is difficult and relatively little can be done to stop it once it has started.

Despite the fact that premature birth is a common, serious and costly health issue there is no overarching research strategy for tackling it.  We believe this is a neglected and underfunded area of research and think much more needs to be done to help reduce the rates of premature birth and improve infant health.

Only medical research can give us a real understanding of the conditions that put mothers and babies at risk and enable doctors to find new treatments.

Stand Up for Tiny Lives calls on this (and any future) government to develop the first UK focused and adequately funded National Research Strategy to support doctors and scientists as they look for answers. 

The campaign pulls together our supporters, parents of premature babies, researchers, clinicians and nurses, as well as professional organizations and other charities all of whom want to see change.