A baby dies before, during or soon after birth, every 16 seconds globally, with devastating impacts for parents. 75% of stillbirths or neonatal deaths occur in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, but research in these settings has been minimal. The new NIHR Unit will bring together leading maternal and newborn health experts to address this huge and largely preventable problem. Our vision is that the Unit will be a globally recognised centre of research excellence, producing effective solutions to end preventable deaths and better support parents/families whose baby dies in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Combining resources allows faster progress, capitalising on experience and knowledge to devise, test and put into practice improved strategies for better quality and respectful maternity and neonatal care.
We will generate new scientific knowledge to inform new health care solutions to end preventable stillbirth and neonatal deaths and provide supportive care.
We will:
- Develop and evaluate sustainable solutions to strengthen maternity and newborn care and reduce the number of stillbirth and neonatal deaths in high-burden settings.
- Evaluate how best to support parents, families and communities who experience a stillbirth or neonatal death and attending health providers.
- Strengthen research capacity, with particular (but not exclusive) emphasis on nurses and midwives.
- Develop effective ways of transferring new knowledge to settings with high stillbirth and neonatal deaths.
We will work with partners in Sub-Saharan Africa (Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe) and South Asia (India, Pakistan). Our research, panning pregnancy, birth and post-birth periods, will be distinguished by its family-centred, strong community and stakeholder partnerships, south-south support and ‘fit-for-purpose’ research designs, involving low-cost, sustainable interventions co-developed with front-line workers and women. Developing local researchers’ skills and institutions capacity to lead.
