London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Just before I started writing my undergraduate thesis, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine accepted me into the MSc Epidemiology by Distance Learning. My two thesis advisors, as well as my mentor from a research association I was a member of (USERN) had pushed me to apply. They wrote letters of recommendation, convinced I had what it took to study at one of the most prestigious universities in the world. I applied to both the MSc Public Health and the MSc Epidemiology, but I was secretly hoping to be accepted into the latter - I had taken an introductory epidemiology course during undergrad and fallen in love. I was overjoyed at my acceptance letter, but suddenly terrified. How would someone like me actually go into science? I was sure I didn’t have what it took - convinced my professor and mentor had been misguided in their faith in me.

I decided to do a mixed-methods study for my thesis, needing to prove to myself that I was capable of going into a STEM related degree. I understood that my scientific background up until that point wouldn’t allow me to do more than describe my data. In fact, I didn’t really have much of a scientific background. I had no idea how to properly conduct research yet. Looking back, I can see the flaws riddled throughout my work, the naive way of conducting research only a totally untrained scientist could manage. But the piece of work that resulted was worth its weight in gold to me. Because while writing it, I finally discovered exactly what I wanted to do with my life.

“Neglected and Forgotten: The Impact of COVID-19 on Maternal Health in the NHS”, was the title of my thesis. The topic was a shot in the dark. I had never done anything about maternal health before - it had never interested me. But my brief moment of inspiration stuck.

With my topic decided, I embarked on interviews with maternal healthcare workers - most of them midwives or health visitors. The interviews revealed unprecedented strain on the NHS’s maternal healthcare resources, high levels of stress placed on the healthcare workers, and challenging working conditions. The survey for the mothers was equally concerning. I gathered 181 responses from women describing the conditions they had faced during pregnancy, labour and postpartum during the pandemic. Many women reported having trauma from their experiences. The work left me deeply concerned, and I started to think about the future. Maybe maternal health wasn’t just a one-off for my undergraduate thesis; maybe it was the passion I’d long been looking for.

While I was writing my thesis, I completed an internship at the Charite Institute for Public Health in Berlin. The team was composed mostly of epidemiologists, and during my time there, I realised that not only did I understand their work, but they also viewed me as someone able to keep up with them. They let me proofread papers, audit lectures at the Berlin School of Public Health, and invited me to join in with their scientific discussions. They viewed my thesis with as much respect as I viewed their papers being published in JAMA or Neurology, and I soon came to understand that science wasn’t as elitist, exclusionary, or male-dominated as I had always thought - in fact, I could, and did, belong there too.

My thesis was awarded a perfect score. It didn’t feel like I alone had earned that mark; it felt like every single one of the women who contributed to my research earned it with me. It was the final acknowledgement I needed that someone like me, who had never felt scientifically capable before in her life, had a chance at a scientific career. I realised that with the right training, I would be able to work to improve conditions for these women properly. With the proper education, I could one day join the ranks of researchers working for better health outcomes for women and their babies around the globe. I could do something really meaningful with my life, I had what it took. I had already registered for the MSc Epidemiology programme, imposter syndrome following me everywhere since. That melted away on that day, now I knew what I was capable of.

Now, I’m writing this blog as a Student Liaison Officer for the MARCH Centre at LSHTM, five months into my MSc Epidemiology degree. I’m enjoying every moment. With every lecture, assessment, and discussion post, I feel more and more capable.

 I have professors and tutors who are experts in the field of maternal and perinatal health, and now I know I could join their ranks one day. 

Today is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, and I think we should all honour and acknowledge not only all the women in STEM around the globe, but also the people who make that possible: who inspire a love for science, and foster it in women. Far in the future, a life awaits me where I spend my time working on research to improve the lives of mothers and babies everywhere; and it will be because of my professor and my mentor, 181 women, and the education they all inspired me to achieve. 

• Learn more about the MARCH Centre and all the 13 research centres at LSHTM
• Study with LSHTM from anywhere in the world. Discover Epidemiology by Distance Learning.