Research midwife receives national honour for improving care

Friday 15 June 2018


Annette Briley RCM Fellowship award

Guy’s and St Thomas’ research midwife Annette Briley has received a Royal College of Midwives (RCM) Fellowship for her work to improve care for women and their families.

The RCM awards Fellowships to a handful of midwives each year, to recognise outstanding leadership in the field. Annette has won a Fellowship for her contribution to research.

Annette said: “It is a great honour to receive the coveted Royal College of Midwives Fellowship. As a research midwife I am delighted that the importance of research has been recognised as key in improving outcomes across midwifery practice.

 “The Fellowship was very much a team effort and I would like to thank all my colleagues for their support over the years. With research funding being hard to find, I would like to also thank Tommy’s Charity, which has effectively enabled me to be involved in research over the last 20 years.”

Annette joined the Guy’s and St Thomas’ research team in 1997, having worked as a midwife and sonographer since 1983. She became the Trust’s Research and Development Lead for Women’s Services in 2015.

At the Trust, Annette has worked on a range of clinical trials to improve midwifery and obstetrics. Her research has contributed to better care for women and their babies.

In 2014 Annette completed a PhD looking at the effects of risk factors on blood loss during and after birth. This year, a paper that Annette co-authored won UK Research paper of the Year at the British Medical Journal Awards. The paper described the results of the BUMPES clinical trial.

Among Annette’s other areas of research are obesity in pregnancy, premature birth and pre-eclampsia. She also works on improving products to train maternity staff and support safer births.

Outside of her work at the Trust, Annette is a Trustee of Maternity Worldwide, an organisation working to improve the reproductive health and status of women in low-income countries.

Kathryn Gutteridge, President of the Royal College of Midwives, said: "The Royal College of Midwives is delighted to award this Fellowship to Annette. Her contributions to midwifery research are enormous and have had a real impact on the safety and quality of care of women and their babies.

“Without research midwifery, practice would stand still and it is through the work of midwives like Annette that the profession has a strong evidence base to support it.  She is a worthy recipient of this honour and I congratulate her heartily.”

Last updated: March 2022

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