Lauren Trepte awarded by Iolanthe Midwifery Trust

We are delighted to announce that Lauren Trepte, a Clinical Research Team Leader for Women’s Health at West Middlesex Hospital, has been awarded the inaugural Norah Faith Coniam Award by the Iolanthe Midwifery Trust. Lauren is the first person to win this award, which was specifically created to support a project addressing issues around baby loss and bereavement.

As part of her Masters of Research in Women’s Health and Reproductive Science at UCL, Lauren will use her award to research the use of virtual reality headsets as a way to support people with pregnancy loss during clinical procedures. This will continue on from the pioneering Eirene project, which launched last year and was conceptualised by Lauren herself alongside Natalie Nunes (Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology). The project aims to give women who experience an early miscarriage a sense of peace during an emotionally distressing time.

On news of the award, Lauren says: “I am so honoured to receive this award which has been created in honour of Ross and Naomi Coniam’s daughter, Norah, who sadly passed away shortly after birth. I will be using the funds from the award to continue with my masters course project which will focus on optimising the mental health outcomes of women experiencing early pregnancy loss.”

Vicki Cochrane, Director of Midwifery, added: “This is really exciting news not only for Lauren and her project but also for the continued work towards promoting pregnant women’s health and wellbeing needs through a holistic approach.”

Congratulations to Lauren on this outstanding achievement and thanks to all our wonderful research midwives—Grace, Lauren, Hannah, Jo, Jen, Amaya, Beth, Orla, Rebecca, Shohreh and Daisy.