The campaign "responding when a baby dies" was launched in 2000. Great progress has since been made but we are now calling on the government to make the campaign recommendation mandatory without delay.

Having a baby die suddenly and unexpectedly is one of the most traumatic events a family can experience. How the enquiries are carried out when a baby dies and who conducts the post mortem examination varies widely across the country, as does the help parents receive. This variation leaves many families poorly supported in their hours of greatest need, and clues which might identify why their baby died may not be explored. Through its ‘Responding When a Baby Dies campaign, FSID is calling for a more co-ordinated, comprehensive and standardised response from all professionals involved whenever a baby dies suddenly and unexpectedly.

Responding when a baby dies was launched in 2000, and has made great progress, but we are now calling on the government to make the campaign recommendation mandatory throughout the UK. Here is a guide to what we have achieved so far:

2008

• A major milestone in the campaign will be achieved - when new statutory requirements for investigating children's deaths come into force on I April 2008.  The new legislation means that Local Safeguarding Children Boards must have procedures in place to respond rapidly to individual unexpected childhood deaths and must set up Child Death Review.  Panels to assess the investigations of all such deaths in a systematic way. The review panels will specifically look at whether any lessons can be learned from each death and its investigation, and they will be required to collect a minimum amount of data on each death . Local Safeguarding Children Boards will then disseminate any lessons learnt by the review panels to local professionals.
  

2006

• National multi-agency training course on the management of SUDI launched in Warwick.
• 30 areas working to a local protocol.

2005

• Funded by the Department of Health, FSID held 45 seminars attended by 1,672 professionals designed to encourage better local responses to sudden infant deaths.
• Campaign was given a boost with a report from the working group on infant deaths - the Royal College of Pathologists and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Panel – calling for professionals to follow guidelines which mirrored those which FSID has been recommending.
• First ever audit of a multi-agency protocol of SUDI
• Launch of Project Indigo by the Metropolitan Police reforming the way that sudden infant deaths are investigated.
• FSID produced guidelines for ambulance crews, completing our set of guidelines for all the professionals on how to respond when a baby dies.

2004

• Three high-profile court cases force the issue of the need for a multi-agency response to infant death into the media.
• Two group are set up to look at the way in which infant and child deaths are investigated and FSID was invited to serve on the groups - Royal College of Pathologists and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Panel, and the government’s Department of Health and Department for Education and Science group.
• National conference attended by over 250 health professionals and bereaved parents.

2003

• The Department of Health awards FSID £86,000 grant for a three year programme consisting of training seminars for coroners’ officers and paediatricians on discussing post mortem examinations with parents after the sudden and unexpected death of a baby to maximise the use of new forms from the department of health seeking parental concent for tissues to be donated to research.
• 24 areas implementing multi-agency protocol in line with FSID suggestions.
• National conference attracting more than 300 health professionals.

2002

• 13 key areas implementing new multi-agency protocols. A further eight areas in discussions about how to implement guidelines.

2001

• National conference and open discussion with health professionals about how to ensure a professional response when a baby dies suddenly and unexpectedly.

2000
In Spring 2000, FSID launched the Responding When a Baby Dies campaign with recommendations that:

• Within 24 hours of a baby’s death, each bereaved family should be visited at home by a paediatrician or other suitably qualified health professional, in liaison with a specially trained police officer, to take a full medical history and offer initial bereavement support.
• Everybaby who dies suddenly and unexpectedly should receive a through post mortam examination, conducted by a paediatric pathologist.
• A discuss by all of those involved with the care of the baby and the family should be help after each death, to review the post mortem findings and all the other available information.
• The whole process should be under the control of the coroner, who has the best information possible to decide what cause of death put on the death certificate.