London midwife receives national midwifery honour
By RCM on 19 June 2018 RCM Fellowship Research
A midwife from London has received a national award from the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) for her contribution to midwifery. Annette Briley, a research midwife at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust has received a prestigious RCM Fellowship. This is an honour given to just a handful of midwives each year.
Annette qualified as a midwife in 1983 and after working clinically, including as a midwife-sonographer, she joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ research team in 1997.
Across her career Annette has worked on many single, multicentre, national and international clinical trials. The results of many of the trials that Annette has been involved in have influenced midwifery and obstetric practice leading to better care for women and their babies.
Among Annette’s other areas of interest are obesity in pregnancy, premature birth, pre-eclampsia and the development of products to better train maternity staff and support safer births.
In 2014 Annette completed a PhD looking at the cumulative effects of risk factors before and during pregnancy on blood loss during and after birth.
Annette is also a Trustee of Maternity Worldwide, an organisation working to improve the reproductive health and status of women in low resource settings.
Annette received the Fellowship yesterday (Tuesday, 12 June 2018) at the Royal College of Midwives Education Conference in London.
The RCM Honorary Fellowship is for people who make an outstanding contribution, or give outstanding service, to midwifery, maternity services, services for women and their families or to the RCM.
Annette said: “It is a great honour to receive the coveted RCM Fellowship. As a research midwife I am delighted that the importance of research has been recognised as key in improving outcomes across midwifery practice”. She added “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”
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.”
Visit our RCM Fellowship page for more information on the RCM Fellowship programme
To contact the RCM Press Office call and for a picture of Annete receiving her award call 020 7312 3456, or email [email protected]. To contact the Guy’s and St Thomas’ R&D Press Office please call Anna Perman, R&D Communications Manager on 020 7188 7604 or email [email protected]
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Notes to editors
The RCM Fellowship recognises individuals who provide exceptional leadership and deliver excellence in practice, education or research. It is open to RCM member midwives who apply and meet the required criteria. These include evidence of professional development, exceptional contribution to promoting the art and science of midwifery and the effectiveness of midwives for the benefit of the health of women and their families. This is demonstrated by professional and personal development of self and others within the sphere of midwifery practice, significant contribution to professional excellence in midwifery through consistent professional excellence in midwifery care and practice, education, research, scholarship, management and any other outstanding development and leadership in midwifery practice, leadership, education or research. This year’s recipients are:
The RCM is the only trade union and professional association dedicated to serving midwifery and the whole midwifery team. We provide workplace advice and support, professional and clinical guidance and information, and learning opportunities with our broad range of events, conferences and online resources. For more information visit the RCM website at https://www.rcm.org.uk/.