Last month we took part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge to raise essential funds to support our work funding ground-breaking research so more families can take home a healthy baby.
Big Give is one of the UK’s largest philanthropic efforts, with public donations made through the Big Give matched by a ‘champion funder’. Tommy’s champion was The Julia and Hans Rausing Trust.
To highlight the devastating impact of baby loss and the lifesaving difference research can make, Hannah and Darren from Manchester shared their story for this year’s campaign. The couple sadly lost their baby, Billy, due to a rare condition, Chronic histiocytic intervillositis (CHI), in 2016. Following their loss, they were referred to the Tommy’s Rainbow Clinic at St Mary’s Hospital in Manchester for pioneering treatment.
CHI is a serious condition in which the immune system reacts abnormally to pregnancy, damaging the placenta in the womb, which can prevent babies from growing as they should. Led by Prof Alex Heazell at Manchester, our team have been working hard understand more about the causes of CHI so that we can better identify, manage and prevent it.
Under the care and treatment of our team, Hannah and Darren have had two successful pregnancies which led to the birth of Ozzy and Daisy.
