Held In Our Hearts, a leading voice on pregnancy and baby loss, is calling for sustained support beyond Baby Loss Awareness Week (9 – 15 October), following a commitment from Maree Todd, Minister for Mental Wellbeing, Public Health, Sport, Alcohol and Drugs, to match-fund its pioneering Hospital to Home service across participating Scottish health boards.
The commitment follows sustained cross-party engagement, including meetings and visits involving MSPs, a cross-party motion in June and the Members’ Business debate on 7 October, led by Patricia Gibson MSP (S7M-00815) to mark Baby Loss Awareness Week. Held in Our Hearts also joined a rally organised by the Scottish Baby Loss Collaborative outside Parliament on the same day.
The Scottish Government said during the debate: “In addition to the £245,000 in funding that we already provide for the continued support of that project, we have been absolutely clear that we would consider further match funding where NHS boards commit to implementing the service in their areas.”
No UK nation currently provides an opt-out baby loss service. Hospital to Home, developed and launched in 2023, is designed to bridge the gap between clinical care and the return home following pregnancy loss or the death of a baby or infant.
Held In Our Hearts is calling on Scotland to become the first UK nation to adopt an opt-out model for baby loss support. Under this approach, every bereaved parent would be proactively offered specialist help following miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death, or infant loss, rather than being left to identify services and seek support at the most devastating point in their lives.
Held In Our Hearts believes that cross-party support from the Scottish Parliament will cement Hospital to Home as a pioneering, necessary, and critical component of health care in Scotland and enable families across Scotland to receive early specialist bereavement support in their own homes.
Cross-party support was achieved in June, commemorating Held in Our Hearts (Motion reference: S7M-00344) and in the debate on 7 October 2026.
Nicola Welsh, Chief Executive of Held In Our Hearts and a leading voice in baby loss support in Scotland, said:
“We are delighted that the Scottish Government has agreed to consider match funding in new health boards we seek to expand to.
“Scotland experiences around 70 pregnancy and baby losses every day. We need radical reform because the loss of a baby is a devastating life event that requires specialist bereavement support.
“Grief does not know politics, and what’s clear is that every political party understands and has had experience of pregnancy and baby loss. We want this reflected going forward, and we are calling for cross-party support for this issue.
“There remains a serious gap between clinical care and community support. Scotland’s public spending on adult mental health services already exceeds £1.2 billion annually, yet provision following pregnancy and baby loss remains unequal, and there is no minimum national framework for families.”
“Our research shows that baby loss can bring hidden costs, including anxiety, debt, relationship breakdown, job loss, suicidal ideation, and self-harm. These consequences are rarely discussed, but they form part of a hidden crisis affecting families across Scotland. Maree Todd’s commitment to match-fund Hospital to Home is an important step towards ensuring that no family has to face that crisis alone.”
“Held In Our Hearts believes Scotland should be proud to set a new standard: compassionate and consistent support offered automatically to every bereaved family, wherever they live.”
Notes to Editors
Official Report with noted mentions of HIOH: https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:60ff80c4-9fff-4800-8b41-1c889b524195
Photography: Press Release – Photos – Shared
Background: Scottish Baby Loss Collaborative Event – 7 October