Our impact

Our pioneering research centres

Tommy’s is the UK’s leading charity funding research into pregnancy and reproductive health. We’ve been funding life-changing research into the causes of pregnancy complications for over 25 years and are committed to finding out why miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth happens.

In the last year, we have invested over £2.4m in medical, psychological and health service research – directly contributing to many improvements in treatments and care for pregnant women across the country. 

From increased understanding of the causes of pregnancy complications, to greater support for those who experience the pain of losing a baby, our research is making a difference and helping us to ensure that all pregnant women have equal access to high-quality antenatal care, effective treatments and support. 

Research from our centres continues to be cited in national clinical guidelines and our researchers continue to be active in writing clinical guidelines to disseminate best practice.
As well as funding ground-breaking research, our innovative translational research clinics connect researchers with patients, working in partnership to advance understanding of stillbirth, miscarriage, neonatal death and premature birth. 

Read more about the impact of our research 

Improving maternity care 

Our vision is ambitious and clear. We are committed to making the UK the safest place to give birth in the world. Driving up standards in care is an essential part of the fight against baby loss. 
Supported by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Midwives, Tommy’s National Centre for Maternity Improvement is working to close the gap between best clinical science and best care. Our team are working to create a digital tool which will support UK targets to reduce stillbirth and preterm birth, working with the NHS to reduce variations in maternity care and personalise care for women.

This year, our team at Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage research have also had a real breakthrough with new national miscarriage care guidelines. On 17 June 2021, Olivia Blake MP raised the findings and recommendations of our Miscarriage Matters Lancet research with Nadine Dorries MP at an Adjournment Debate in Parliament. This was thanks to over 175,000 of our brilliant supporters signing our petition to demand the Government make changes to miscarriage care. Since then, we’ve reached over 230,000 signatures and have been in talks with policy-makers and the NHS, which will help bring us closer to achieving this.

Read more the impact of Tommy’s National Centre for Maternity Improvement 

Tommy’s PregnancyHub

Tommy's PregnancyHub provides expert, evidence-based pregnancy information to support women and families throughout their pregnancy journey. Our information resources, digital tools, midwife-led support line and online communities cover all aspects of pregnancy from pre-conception and safer pregnancy, through to wellbeing and support for families who are pregnant after loss.

We inform and empower families to make healthy behaviour and lifestyle choices by providing evidence-based, high-quality information, ultimately leading to a reduction in the number of babies who die during pregnancy or birth

“Tommy’s PregnancyHub was a real lifeline for me. Their clear and accessible information about sleep positions helped me to understand the value of sleeping on my side during my third trimester. It was very comforting to know I could easily access trustworthy, midwife-approved information on the Tommy’s website throughout my pregnancy.”

Phillipa, mum to baby Jessica who was born in February 2020

Read more about the impact of Tommy’s pregnancy hub