Wellbeing of Women
| Founded | October 1964 |
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| Founder | Will Nixon |
| Type | Health charity |
| Registration no. |
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| Focus | Reproductive health |
| Location | |
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Key people
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Revenue
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£1,862,650 |
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Employees
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11 |
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Volunteers
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250 |
| Website | wellbeingofwomen |
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Formerly called
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Wellbeing of Women is a charity dedicated to improving the health of women and babies. It raises money to invest in medical research and the development of specialist doctors and nurses working in the field of reproductive health. Every year the charity invests in research projects and allocates funds towards the training of doctors and midwives. The charity also disseminates information on women's reproductive health.
The charity is based in London, and consists of: a team of staff and volunteers; a board of trustees headed up by Sir Victor Blank; and a Research Advisory Committee.
The charity was established in 1964 by eminent obstetrician Professor Will Nixon, who was touched by the grief of a young man whose wife died during childbirth. It was originally called The Childbirth Research Centre. He gathered a group of illustrious founder members including Lord Brain, a neurologist who cared for Winston Churchill on his deathbed in 1965; Sir John Peel, the surgeon-gynaecologist to the Queen; Professor Dugald Baird and Sir George Pinker, an obstetrician who delivered nine royal babies including Princes William and Harry. The founders’ aim was to reduce the number of women and babies who died during pregnancy and childbirth.
An early donation established that a deficiency in folic acid was a factor in malformed babies. Pregnant women across the world now take folic acid supplements.
The charity also funded crucial research into epidurals which means that millions of women now benefit from a relatively pain-free birth.
In 1972 the charity was renamed Birthright.
Research projects they funded created the ground rules that mean many thousands of women have safe laser treatment to treat cervical cancer. They also enabled breakthroughs into monitoring babies in the womb. One early pieces of research into the diagnosis of Down’s Syndrome in pregnant women helped make the amniocentesis test more accurate. The charity also discovered a link between smoking and pre-eclampsia and babies being born underweight.
HRH Diana, Prince of Wales, became the patron of Birthright in 1984.
She was devoted to the charity, explaining: "To long for a baby and not to be able to have one must be devastating. I don't know how I would cope with that. And if my work for Birthright can alleviate that suffering for just one couple, it will have been all worthwhile."
During her time as patron, the charity funded work into IVF and also investigated HPV, the virus that causes cervical cancer leading to the cervical cancer screening programme. The charity’s research into recurrent miscarriage also meant that, out of a research group of 2000 women who had been told they would never have children, 79% went on to have babies. Professor Stuart Campbell of King’s College, London, received funding from the charity for a project that developed an ultrasound that would identify babies at risk of stillbirth by finding out if they had abnormal blood flow.
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Wikipedia