Why Do We Support Tommy’s?

If there’s one thing I’ve learned through becoming a mum and getting to know other parents, it’s that it’s a rare thing indeed to have a straightforward path into parenthood. My own personal experience began with difficulty conceiving (we were on the waiting list for IVF when I fell pregnant), followed by two threatened miscarriages in my first trimester, then being made redundant and suffering postnatal anxiety after my son was born.

My journey was heartbreaking at times, but I know that I’m one of the lucky ones. Tragically, 1 in 4 pregnancies in the UK end in loss, and many parents never know the reasons why because research into baby loss is severely lacking.

When I experienced a threatened miscarriage for the second time, I was invited to join the Tommy’s Prism Study, a UK-wide medical trial that looked at the potential of progesterone as a treatment for bleeding in early pregnancy, which is known to increase the risk of miscarriage. The trial showed that where women were given progesterone pessaries there was a small reduction in miscarriage for those who had previously experienced one or two miscarriages, and a big reduction in miscarriage for those who had previously experienced three or more miscarriages.

I’ll obviously never know if I had the placebo or the progesterone, but I went on to have a healthy baby boy and for that I will always be grateful. When I launched Pattie and Co. I wanted to give something back to Tommy’s, and that’s why we donate 10% from every organic cotton muslin blanket sold to support their mission to make pregnancy safer and help families through their pregnancy journey.

About Tommy’s

Tommy’s is the largest UK charity researching the causes and prevention of pregnancy complications, miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth and neonatal death.

The charity funds and carries out pioneering research and delivers much-needed support for pregnant women through its Pregnancy Hub, a midwife-led service that offers information about having a safe and healthy pregnancy. Crucially, Tommy’s also campaigns to break the stigma around miscarriage and baby loss and provides invaluable support to families who have experienced premature birth or the devastating loss of a baby.

Tommy’s was founded on the belief that every baby lost is one too many, and research into causes and treatments can make pregnancy and birth safer. Sadly, the statistics in the UK show that there is still a great deal of work to do:

• 1 in 4 women have experienced miscarriage.

• We have one of the highest stillbirth rates in Europe.

• 60,000 babies are born prematurely each year.

• Premature birth is the leading cause of neonatal death.

Tommy’s goal is to make the UK the safest place to give birth, halving the number of babies who die in pregnancy and birth by 2030.

Our Donations

We donate 10% from every Pattie & Co. organic cotton muslin blanket sale to Tommy’s. We’re clear and unambiguous about this and 10% really means 10%. So if you buy an organic cotton muslin blanket at £40, £4 will go to Tommy’s via the Work for Good platform.

Tommy’s asked us to make our monthly donations through Work for Good because it streamlines the process of setting up a Commercial Participation Agreement – a legal requirement for any business that wants to support a charity. Setting up and managing a CPA can be a drain on time and resources, but Work for Good removes all the red tape both for us and for Tommy’s, which means they can spend more time finding causes and treatments to save babies’ lives.

Donating through Work for Good also means that there is complete transparency about our donations. At the time of writing this blog we’ve donated £11,894.15 to Tommy’s and that number will keep rising – you can visit our profile page to see the latest total. We’re so grateful to each and every one of our customers for helping us support this wonderful charity.

How Can You Help?

There are many ways you can support Tommy’s.

Head to their website to make a donation or find out about fundraising events, including their popular baby and children’s activities.

You can also lend your support to the many campaigns led by Tommy’s to raise awareness of baby loss, help grieving families and share the latest research and advice to ensure more women have healthy pregnancies.

One such campaign is the charity’s petition to improve miscarriage care in the UK. Currently, parents only qualify for specialist care once they’ve had three miscarriages in a row, but Tommy’s believes that this should be offered to parents after every miscarriage. Their petition to the UK Government is demanding several changes to ensure better support, standardised tests and treatments and the recording of all miscarriages, which would give a true picture of the scale of the problem. Find out more and add your name to the Tommy’s miscarriage petition here.

You can also use the buttons below to share this blog and spread the word.