Tommy's CEO Jane Brewin receives award from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

In their most recent membership ceremony, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) presented Tommy’s Chief Executive, Jane Brewin, with the award of the Fellowship Honoris Causa. 

What is the Fellowship Honoris Causa?

The Fellowship Honoris Causa is awarded to people who are not Fellows or Members of RCOG, but who have made an outstanding contribution to the field of obstetrics and gynaecology and the development of women’s healthcare services. 

Jane has been given this award to recognise her dedication to growing Tommy’s since she joined as Chief Executive 22 years ago, and the work she has done to build our organisation into the largest UK charity funding pregnancy research.

What has Jane achieved in her time at Tommy's?

Tommy’s was founded in 1992 when 2 obstetricians at St Thomas’ Hospital in London – Dr Ian Fergusson and Dr Anthony Kenney – couldn't and wouldn't accept the lack of answers surrounding premature birth any longer. Together with one of their patients, Lucy Nelson, they decided to start a campaign raising money for pregnancy research projects.  

8 years later, Jane joined Tommy’s as CEO, with the goal of turning what Dr Fergusson, Dr Kenney and Lucy Nelson had started into a successful charity which could achieve its mission of giving every family the best possible chance of a healthy pregnancy. 

In Jane’s time here, we’ve opened research centres and clinics in Manchester, Birmingham, Coventry and London, where our experts have worked tirelessly to develop tests and treatments for miscarriage, stillbirth and pregnancy complications. This research and care, delivered by the teams at our clinics, has made a difference to thousands of families across the UK.

In addition to our research, we have developed a pregnancy information service, to actively support parents and parents-to-be and channel our research into the best possible care and advice. This is why, in 2002, we opened our PregnancyLine, allowing families to speak directly to our midwives about their concerns. More recently, we launched the Tommy’s PregnancyHub – an evidence-based information hub which reaches around 2 million people every month and gives parents across the UK vital advice and support for planning a healthy pregnancy. 

Through the research Tommy’s has funded, Jane has also supported the work of many members of RCOG, including Prof Andrew Shennan, Prof Alex Heazell and Prof Basky Thilaganathan.

As a Member and Fellow of RCOG and Clinical Director of our National Centre for Maternity Improvement, Prof Basky made a speech as Jane accepted her Fellowship Honoris Causa and explained why Jane is a worthy recipient of the award: 

“Having worked closely with Jane over the last 2 years, it’s clear that she is a huge admirer of the many doctors and researchers Tommy’s supports. It is also apparent that she does not let this admiration mask her determination to make Tommy’s successful at its primary mission of improving women’s reproductive health. For this alone, aside from her many other achievements, she deserves this award.” 

Everyone at Tommy’s is extremely proud to see Jane receive this award. It is a reflection of everything she has done over the years to grow our organisation into what it is today, so that we can strive towards our goal of making the UK the safest place in the world to give birth. 

You can find out more about our mission as a charity here.