I am a researcher and midwife with clinical experience working in the UK, New Zealand and with Médecins Sans Frontières, where I supported maternal and newborn health programmes in low-resource and conflict settings; including Somaliland and the Democratic Republic of Congo. I returned to the UK to undertake an MSc in Public Health for Developing Countries before joining the team here at LSHTM.
My midwifery career is driven by a firm belief that all women should have equitable access to quality healthcare.
Affiliations
Teaching
I enjoy teaching, mentoring and supporting students and am a tutor for the Reproductive & Sexual Health Research MSc.
I co-organise a course in Advanced Research Methods and the Ethics, Public Health and Human Rights module.
I teach on:
Current Issues in Safe Motherhood and Perinatal Health
Applying Public Health Principles in Developing Countries
Diploma of Tropical Nursing
I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Research
My areas of interest are focused on improving the quality of maternal and newborn care, especially in low-resource and humanitarian settings.
I am a research fellow for the Every Newborn Action Plan Metrics team led by Professor Joy Lawn in conjunction with the World Health Organization (WHO). Our work is focused on improving global health outcomes for mothers and newborns through the development of feasible metrics for maternal and newborn health.
The Every Newborn Action Plan (ENAP), is underwritten by a 2014 World Health Assembly Resolution, and aims to support countries in reaching the target of fewer than 12 newborn deaths per 1000 live births, and fewer than 12 stillbirths per 1,000 total births by 2030. Data are crucial to track progress towards this ENAP vision for quality of care at birth. However, there is a major gap for data to track programmatic coverage, quality and service readiness. As seen from programmes such as immunisation, malaria and HIV, these data are fundamental for local programme planning and financing, especially to ensure we reach the poorest families, as well as for global governance.