NIHR Global Health Research Unit on the prevention and management of stillbirths and neonatal deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia

NIHR Global Health Research Unit on the prevention and management of stillbirths and neonatal deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia

The NIHR Global Health Unit on the Prevention and Management of Stillbirths and Neonatal Deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia is an established equitable multidisciplinary partnership between Africa, Asia and UK-based researchers.

We work in Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, India and Pakistan; countries with national priorities in perinatal death reduction.

Country

SBR

Stillbirths (N.) 

NMR

Neonatal deaths (N.)

Kenya

19.7

30,030

21.0

31,343

Malawi

16.3

10,440

19.8

12,469

Tanzania

18.8

40,480

20.1

42,814

Uganda

17.8

29,928

19.9

32,914

Zambia

14.8

9,597

23.3

14,902

Zimbabwe

16.0

7,113

25.9

11,283

India

13.9

340,622

21.7

522,249

Pakistan

30.6

190,483

41.2

248,342

Europe

3.2

25,000

2.6

20,223

Stillbirth rate (SBR) per 1000 total birth (Source: UNICEF, 2020 – 2019 for India and Pakistan)

Neonatal mortality rate (NMR) per 1000 live birth (Source: UNICEF, 2019)

The Unit includes 9 workstreams, with a diverse range of studies conducted in 8 countries:

WS1 – Development, feasibility, and evaluation of an antenatal care package to increase antenatal contacts and improve perinatal outcomes: a cluster RCT in Tanzania

WS2 - Development, implementation, and evaluation of a respectful maternal and newborn care bundle: A mixed-methods study in Tanzania and Malawi

WS3 – Implementation of a quality of intrapartum care package: a participatory action research project in Zambia and Zimbabwe

WS4 - BabySaver implementation study in Uganda

WS5 - Parental involvement in the care of sick neonates: evidence synthesis and participatory action research in India, Pakistan and Tanzania

WS6 - Development, feasibility, and evaluation of a multi-component intervention to improve care and support for parents after stillbirth or neonatal death in sub-Saharan Africa (Kenya, Uganda) and South Asia (India, Pakistan)

WS7 - Effectiveness of a community-based peer-support programme for women who give birth to a stillborn baby and have co-morbidities (fistula) in Kenya

WS8 - Assessing the childbirth needs of adolescents in Zambia

WS9 - Development of Core Outcome sets for LMICs

Contact us:

Professor Dame Tina Lavender
Chief Investigator of the Unit
Email: Tina.Lavender@lstmed.ac.uk

Roy Daley
Programme Manager
Email: Roy.Daley@lstmed.ac.uk

Harriet Brignal
Programme Coordinator
Harriet.brignal@lstmed.ac.uk

This research was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (16/137/53), a major funder of global health research and training, using UK aid from the UK Government to support global health research. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the UK Department of Health and Social Care.”