A nationwide campaign was launched by a charity earlier this month to widen the scope of support available to people living with congenital and acquired limb differences.
Reach made a successful lottery bid which helped six charities to create a new alliance that tackles the stigma people face.
Currently, 1,900 babies are born with limb differences, and 12,000 major amputations are carried out by NHS England each year, with half of congenital upper limb differences are found at the 20-week scan and half discovered at birth.
Sarah Jane Lawson, the charity operations lead for Reach, said: “There have been not so positive experiences from some families where when their child is born with an upper limb difference, a midwife may not be able to handle it or know what to do,
“So they’ve just tucked the baby’s arm in, wrapped it up and let mum find out on her own.”
In a partnership statement, the collaborators, Amputation Foundation, Blesma, Finding Your Feet, LimbPower, Reach, and Steel Bones said they were excited to curate a 5-year vision which reflects the voices of people living with limb differences.
A group of young ambassadors in the alliance and Marie Tidball, the first MP elected to parliament with congenital limb difference visited Westminster on 14 April 2026.
Dr Tidball, MP of the South Yorkshire constituency, Penistone and Stocksbridge, said: “We need a systematic review of the provision across the NHS for people with limb loss and limb difference to end the postcode lottery across the country.
“This pathway must be across an entire lifetime, and be underpinned by appropriate training for NHS clinicians and the social model of disability.”
The alliance highlighted mental health support on a special podcast episode recorded in parliament which voiced the importance of using respectful and inclusive language towards people with disabilities.
Dr Tidball said clearer resources for those with limb differences would help early identification and mental health referrals because they make it easier for existing charities to offer support to families.
The team will return to parliament in July 2026 for disabilities awareness month and will meet Wes Streeting, Stephanie Peacock and Stephen Tims to bring forth the message.
The charity ambassador of Reach, Emma Gilpin, started an independent year-long survey to figure out how to make it easier for healthcare professionals to support families.
In 2017, she discovered her unborn child would be born with a limb difference at a 20-week scan, and was given the contact details of the charity.
The team supported her in the unexpected journey of the diagnosis, she said: “It was just really positive and knowing that we weren’t alone, that there were other families like us and that I didn’t need to worry about our baby.”
The preliminary findings of the national survey showed a gap in knowledge for healthcare professionals navigating congenital limb difference.
Ms Gilpin said despite this there is a “consistent appetite for education” which demonstrates professionals want to improve their confidence in delivering diagnosis so they can help families during the critical time.
The first three episodes of Reach’s Offhand podcast can be watched on YouTube and the special podcast episode filmed in parliament can currently be listened to on Spotify.
