As we approach the 2025 deadline for the government’s targets to reduce stillbirth and neonatal mortality, it is clear that they are off track and are far from meeting their self-imposed targets. While small progress was made for a while, the stark reality is that too many babies are still dying—especially in multiple pregnancies. Families expecting twins and multiples continue to face significantly higher risks, yet the necessary changes to maternity care are not happening fast enough. If the government is serious about preventing baby loss, the rising number of deaths must be treated as a national priority as part of the 10 year NHS plan. 

New research has shown that, despite falling birth rates overall, more twins are being born than ever before. Advances in fertility treatments, as well as a trend toward older motherhood (which naturally increases the likelihood of multiples), mean that the number of twin births is steadily rising. This only strengthens the case for greater government focus on maternity care for multiples. The risks associated with twin pregnancies are well-documented—growth restrictions in utero, premature birth and neonatal complications. Yet maternity services remain largely designed for singleton pregnancies, leaving many families without the specialist care they need. The government must recognise that as the number of multiple births increases, so too does the need for improved maternity services, specialist training and bereavement support. 

The statistics speak for themselves: 

• A woman carrying multiples is 2.4 times more likely to experience stillbirth than a woman carrying a singleton. There’s a stillbirth rate of 8.24 per 1,000 for multiples compared to 3.41 for singletons. 

• The neonatal death rate for multiples has increased by a third since 2019.  It now stands at 8.10 per 1,000—over 5 times the rate for singletons (1.47 per 1,000). 

• Over half of all multiples spend time in neonatal care. 

These risks of multiple birth pregnancies demand specialist care, yet too many hospitals still lack the necessary expertise, resources or training to provide it. The current approach is failing families—leaving them to navigate a maternity system that is not designed to meet their complex needs. 

Twins Trust, the leading charity advocating for families with multiples, has been working to address this issue through its Maternity Engagement Project. This initiative audits hospitals and helps them implement evidence-based changes that have been proven to reduce baby loss. By improving monitoring, ensuring timely interventions and supporting clinical teams, hospitals that engage with the programme have seen real progress. Yet, despite these successes, far too many maternity units are still under-resourced, under-trained and under pressure. More needs to be done, and the government must act now if it is to have any hope of meeting its 2025 target. Thoughts must turn to what can be expected past 2025 if things are to ever improve. 

The government has a duty to ensure that every hospital is equipped to provide safe, high-quality care for families expecting multiples. This means investing in multidisciplinary teams, ensuring specialist training for healthcare professionals and embedding robust clinical pathways that reflect the unique risks of twin and multiple pregnancies. These measures should not be optional; they should be mandatory across all maternity units. 

Alongside improving maternity care, there is an urgent need for better bereavement support for families of multiples. Losing a baby is always devastating, but when one or more babies survive while another does not, parents face an incredibly complex and conflicting grief. They are expected to celebrate life while mourning loss, an emotional balancing act that can feel impossible. Sadly, many families report that healthcare providers do not always understand the unique challenges of grieving in this situation. Twins Trust has a bereavement service and a developed a booklet on grief, specifically designed to support these families through their unique journey of loss and survival. However, much more is needed to ensure that bereavement care is embedded in every hospital and tailored to the specific needs of families expecting multiples. 

For some families, the loss is total—where one or both babies do not survive. The heartbreak of losing both babies in a multiple pregnancy is unimaginable, yet support for these parents remains inconsistent across the NHS. Hospitals must ensure that families experiencing loss receive compassionate, specialist bereavement care from professionals trained in supporting multiple birth loss. These families need dedicated space and time to grieve, clear guidance on what to expect in the days and weeks ahead and ongoing emotional and psychological support. Too often, bereaved parents of multiples are left feeling isolated and unsupported in their grief. This must change. 

To truly support these families, there must also be specialist training for healthcare professionals on the complexities of multiple pregnancies, bereavement in multiple births and the unique emotional challenges that come with them. Many midwives and doctors have never received specific training in how to care for parents navigating the loss of one or more babies in a multiple birth. Understanding how to provide sensitive, informed care in these situations should be a core part of maternity and neonatal training. 

Additionally, mental health support must be made a priority for bereaved families. The trauma of baby loss is profound, and for parents of multiples, the emotional burden can be even heavier when coping with grief while still caring for surviving children or struggling with feelings of guilt, anxiety and depression. Families must have access to specialist perinatal mental health support from professionals who understand the complexities of multiple birth loss. 

Every number added to the baby loss figures is a family devastated. The ripple effect of these losses extends far beyond statistics, impacting parents, siblings and extended families and friendship circles. No family should have to suffer the preventable loss of a child due to systemic failings in maternity care. 

The government is running out of time to meet its 2025 target to reduce baby loss and without urgent intervention, more families of multiples will continue to suffer. With twin births at an all-time high, the demand for specialist maternity care and bereavement support has never been greater. The government must acknowledge the urgent need to prioritise multiples within maternity policy, support initiatives like Twins Trust’s Maternity Engagement Project and commit to meaningful, long-term change. If we are serious about reducing baby loss, we cannot afford to let another year go by without addressing this critical gap in care. Families of multiples deserve better.