Tommy's to Open Miscarriage Research Centre

Tommy’s charity is set to open the UK’s first national research centre dedicate to early miscarriage. With a partnership with The University of Birmingham, The University of Warwick (in conjunction with University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust), and Imperial College London, the charity also intends to find out why miscarriage occurs, the likelihood of it happening again, how to prevent it, as well as how to provide appropriate aftercare.  The centre is due to open on April 4th 2016.

Following Tommy’s recent studies into early miscarriage and the effects it has on families the charity reports that 85 percent of miscarriages happen in the first 12 weeks (known as early miscarriages). Many parents are frustrated that current health guidelines say three consecutive early miscarriages must occur before there is any investigation. 

Each year 200,000 mothers and their families are affected by early miscarriage. A spokesperson from Tommy’s said: “We strongly believe that the chromosome problems and the other underlying causes for miscarriage could be preventable. That’s thousands of lives that could be saved. But because reducing early miscarriage isn’t an NHS target, there’s much we still don’t know about the causes. There are no universal screening tests, and few treatments to prevent it.”

The new research centre also intends to increase  understanding of the emotional effects of miscarriage, an aspect that has been explored throughout the recent #misCOURAGE campaign.

For more information see Tommy’s site here