Take part in research

Sometimes we are asked to share research opportunities with families. Sometimes we seek input from bereaved families, and sometimes from new and expectant parents or carers. Your input helps us work with researchers to keep babies safe, and keep grieving families supported.

A photo of a collection of images on a wall. It is family photos, predominantly babies.

Projects that families can take part in

We only promote research studies to families if we believe they are relevant to, or closely associated with, our work. Whilst we do ask for proof of ethical approval, we are not involved in running these studies and they may not be funded by The Lullaby Trust, so any questions you have should be directed to the study contacts below.

Projects we are funding

Pregnancy after loss experience for Pakistani or Bangladeshi mothers

Researchers at the University of Manchester are looking to speak to Pakistani and Bangladeshi mothers who have been pregnant after baby loss. They would like understand more about their experiences of maternity care and what support they may need in their current pregnancy.

You can take part if you:

Are of Pakistani or Bangladeshi ethnicity;
Are fluent in English;
Currently live in England;
Have lost at least one baby during pregnancy or up to 28 days after birth;
Were over the age of 18 years when you experienced your first loss;
Received NHS maternity care in the pregnancy or pregnancies where loss was experienced;
Are able to provide informed consent.
You do not need to be currently pregnant to take part but if you are pregnant, you must be more than 12-weeks pregnant.

What’s involved?

We would like to you to complete a short demographic survey and to speak to you for 1 hour on Microsoft Teams about your experience of the pregnancy or pregnancies after loss. You will receive an Amazon voucher for your time.

Learn more and sign-up

How and why parents and carers use AI

Researchers at the Durham Infancy and Sleep Centre have created a survey to gather information on how and why parents/carers use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to seek information and advice about their baby sleep. This is part of our latest project in which we also seek to examine the potential benefits and risks of AI-generated sleep advice for parents and infants, and develop guidance for parents/carers on using AI safely and effectively. Parents/carers of infants under 12 months of age, whether or not you have used AI, are invited to participate.

The survey will close on 31^st May 2026.

Take the survey

The ChildBone Study

The ChildBone Study, based at The University of Sheffield, in collaboration with Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, is working to revolutionise how children’s bones are studied.

The ChildBone study is trying to understand more about how children’s bones grow and how they might be affected by things like low vitamin D or other health conditions. Sometimes, these changes in bone strength and property aren’t visible on X-rays, so researchers need to look more closely at the bone tissue itself. For this study, the team will take two small samples from the ribs. Each sample would be about 3 to 4 centimetres long, and they would be used for mechanical testing to understand the material properties of the rib bones. The aim is to test the bone’s strength and structure, which could help us understand how children’s bones respond to different conditions, with different vitamin D levels. They will also build a database of different types of children’s bones. These virtual bones (or digital twins) will be used to predict fracture and study the effect of material properties on the strength of bone virtually (without actually breaking them). This knowledge could help improve care for other children in the future.

Families will be recruited for this study exclusively through coronial cases referred to the Sheffield Children’s Hospital, however if you are interested in supporting this project as part of Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE), please contact Dr Xinshan Li on [email protected]

End date: 31 August 2028

BabyLab and ToddlerLab are looking for babies and children to help with their research in understanding child development

BabyLab & ToddlerLab at the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development are in need of baby and child participants. Based at Birkbeck, University of London with a bright and cheerful reception with changing facilities and toys, their purpose-built labs are cutting-edge and harness the latest developments in technology to study child development. Signing up is free and easy and involves no commitment – it means they have the ability to contact parents when their baby or child matches the age group of one of their studies. The team will then invite them to take part and hope they say yes! They will refund travel costs and all babies/children who take part receive a certificate and small gift. The studies currently running look at a variety of topics including socialisation, listening preferences, attention, sleep, screen time, action control and noise in the home.

Learn more