Baby loss statistics

Every baby deserves the best start in life, and we are committed to funding medical research and providing information to help more people to have a healthy pregnancy and birth.

Key statistics about pregnancy and loss in the UK 

In the UK, it is estimated that 1 in 4 pregnancies end in loss during pregnancy or birth.

• 694,685 births were registered in 2021 (624,828 in England & Wales; 47,786 in Scotland; 22,071 in Northern Ireland)

• There were 2,866 stillbirths in 2021 (2,597 in England & Wales; 180 in Scotland; 89 Northern Ireland)

• Approximately 53,000 babies were born prematurely in 2021

• The overall percentage of preterm live births in England and Wales was 7.6% in 2021. This is an increase from 7.4% in 2020, ending three consecutive years of a decrease in the number of preterm live births. 

• An estimated 1 in 5 pregnancies ended in miscarriage (1 in 6 if we only count women who realised/reported the miscarriage)

• Estimates suggest there are 250,000 miscarriages every year in the UK, and around 11,000 emergency admissions for ectopic pregnancies

• There were 1,719 neonatal deaths (under the age of 28 days) in England and Wales in 2021

• In England and Wales, on average there were 2.7 deaths per 1,000 live births

• 217 women died during or up to 6 weeks after pregnancy between 2016 and 2018 in the UK - this equates to 9.6 women per 100,000 babies born who died due to causes associated with pregnancy, during pregnancy or soon after

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Media requests about baby loss statistics

Our clinicians, scientists and researchers are available to speak about stillbirth, neonatal death, premature birth and neonatal death statistics for press and media. If you are a journalist interested in speaking to a clinician from a Tommy's network of research centres, please contact Tommy's press office on 0207 398 3436 or email [email protected].