Tommy's

In the UK in 2023 there were over:

• 1,000 neonatal deaths (death before 28 days after birth).
• 2,100 stillborn babies
• 52,000 babies born prematurely (before 37 weeks of pregnancy)

And half of adults in the UK said that they, or someone they know, have experienced pregnancy or baby loss.

This simply isn’t good enough. With the strength of our community, we know we can make change happen.

We fund ground-breaking research to find the causes of and treatments for pregnancy complications and baby loss and improve maternity care across the UK. We’re making breakthroughs all the time – like taking progesterone in early pregnancy as a way of preventing miscarriage. We estimate this could save 8,500 babies’ lives every year.

We provide clear and expert information for everyone at any stage of their pregnancy journey, and our team of expert midwives provide compassionate support through our helplines. Our midwives provided vital support to women and their families over 8,000 times last year.

We drive change through our public health campaigns and policy work, to bring about much-needed improvements – and consistency – in pregnancy care nationwide. And we work with communities and grassroots partners to tackle inequities and campaign for change, to make pregnancy and birth safer - for everyone.

With the support of the Syncona Foundation we will be able to help more families take their babies home – thank you.

Testimonial

Researchers at Tommy’s Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre in Manchester have led ground-breaking work to better understand and prevent a rare and serious condition called Chronic Histiocytic Intervillositis or CHI. In CHI, the immune system reacts abnormally to pregnancy, causing damage to the placenta. It only affects 6 in 10,000 pregnancies but in around half of cases it results in the death of the baby. CHI is likely to come back in subsequent pregnancies, meaning women are at risk of losing multiple babies.

Our researchers found that a combination of drugs resulted in much better outcomes for women with CHI. Their research has meant women with CHI can access these new life-saving treatments - people like Hannah and her husband, Darren who sadly lost their son, Billy, to CHI at 38 weeks.

“The sonographer said there was no heartbeat. I couldn’t believe it, I was 38 weeks. We’d gone from planning a christening to a funeral.”

“The post mortem results came back in the November and we met a lovely consultant who explained I had chronic histiocytic intervillositis (CHI). But she also explained that there was a brilliant doctor at the Tommy’s clinic at St Mary’s who’d researched CHI and come up with a protocol which had led to lots of success stories. She told us that, once I got pregnant, he would oversee my care and it was such a relief, that someone had found a way to save these babies’ lives.”

Hannah became pregnant again in 2020 and received support from Professor Alex Heazell’s team at the Tommy’s Rainbow Clinic at St Mary’s Hospital in Manchester.

“Pregnancy after loss is so difficult and knowing my own body was fighting the pregnancy was incredibly hard.”

“The support from the doctors was reassuring but I couldn’t look too far ahead. I had a scan at six weeks then so many scans and appointments, placenta scans at Tommy’s from 17 weeks where Prof Alex explained everything so clearly, never sugar-coating but always offering hope. I was on lots of medications including steroids, vitamin D and high doses of folic acid daily but I didn’t know if it would work and I was anxious until I got to hold him in my arms. When he arrived it didn’t feel real, sometimes it still doesn’t.”

Hannah went on to have another baby, Daisy, with the help of Professor Heazell and team.

“To be told your own body is fighting a much-wanted pregnancy is a terrible thing. Prof Alex Heazell and Tommy’s saved the lives of both my babies. I owe them so much.”

You can read Hannah and Darren’s full story here on the Tommy’s website.