Campaign for Gigi
Gigi was killed whilst in nursery care. The nursery worker responsible has been convicted of manslaughter. But Gigi's story is not just about one individual, it's about a system that failed her.
We need your support: Taking baby safety to parliament
12* babies die suddenly and unexpectedly every week in the UK.
That’s 12 too many.
Families need to get the right information and support to follow the safer sleep advice. This could save lives.
We need to take urgent action.
Along with Connor Rand MP and Tom Morrison MP, we are calling on the government to take urgent steps to reduce infant mortality and work towards a future where no baby’s life ends just as it starts.
Please ask your MP to be in the room on 27 October to support the campaign.
*Based on averaging the 644 sudden and unexpected deaths of infants under one year of age during 2023. 2023 is the most recent year where the most complete data is available. Data from 2024 currently indicates that 11 babies died every week; this may increase as investigations are completed and reported over the coming year.
What we're calling for
At the parliamentary roundtable we hosted in September, alongside Gigi’s parents Katie and John, and Tom Morrison MP, we identified an urgent need for further action. So, on 27 October, The Lullaby Trust and Connor Rand MP will host a parliamentary drop-in session for MPs where we will be asking them to get behind the campaign and ask the government to commit to:
- A national plan for increasing health visitor numbers to improve support for new parents
- Regulation and a minimum qualification standard for anyone providing professional sleep support and advice
- A new government-backed safer sleep campaign to support everyone looking after young babies to feel confident about safer sleep
Make sure your MP is in the room – email them today!
The families that prompted change
We have achieved an incredible amount so far for the Campaign for Gigi, fighting for safer sleep in early years settings. It has been hugely successful so far but has uncovered a need for wider regulation of infant sleep for professionals who operate inside the home too.
Following the death of a four-month-old baby in Connor Rand MP’s constituency when, heartbreakingly, the baby was placed in an unsafe sleeping position on the advice of a ‘maternity nurse’, the need for regulation of ‘sleep professionals’ became undeniable.
It shocked everyone involved to find there was no legal accountability for that death because no laws had been broken. Ever since, Connor Rand MP, has been campaigning for the regulation of ‘sleep professionals’ and unsafe sleep products.
It's time to take action
Last year a BBC investigation we supported, exposed the unsafe sleep practices being advised by baby sleep ‘experts’ to families around the UK. These ‘experts’ are often found via social media and operate under titles like ‘sleep consultant’, ‘night nannies’ or ‘night nurses’.
This is happening at a time when we know health visitor numbers have decreased, leaving more families without access to trusted and qualified professionals.
There is no regulation and no national minimum qualification standard for anyone offering ‘professional’ sleep advice to families of young babies. Families looking for support in this area are often sleep deprived, exhausted and vulnerable. Families deserve better.
We need to arm new parents, and their families, with the guidance they need to cut through misinformation and enable them to ignore the unsafe products and advice being targeted to them as ‘lifesavers’.
Our ‘Back to sleep’ campaign, launched in 1991, led to an almost instant decrease in the numbers of deaths linked to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and has saved the lives of over 32,894 babies since then.
After decades of progress, we are concerned that the decline in numbers of babies dying suddenly and unexpectedly has stalled. The number of cases reported in the UK is no longer decreasing.
Parents are being hit with a barrage of messages about unsafe products and sleep practices, cleverly targeted at those who are most sleep deprived and vulnerable.
Part of our ask of government is to support a new national safer sleep campaign; the back to sleep messages are just as important now as they were in 1991, and we want them to be there for everyone, who’s awake at 3am, looking after a baby and desperate for help.
It’s time to empower everyone who cares for a baby, whether it is their child, grandchild, niece, nephew, or someone else, with the guidance they need to keep that baby safe.
We need your support
The government has a responsibility to support new parents, expectant parents and their babies with appropriate information and guidance. Join us in asking them to support the Campaign for Safer Starts.
Discover more
Campaign for CONI
We won’t rest until CONI is in every corner of the country, supporting every baby and every family.
Safer sleep overview
Our safer sleep advice explains the steps you can take to keep your baby safer, reducing the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Choosing a baby sleep professional: a checklist for families
This checklist will help you have conversations with sleep consultants, sleep coaches and others who may help with baby sleep advice.