Dr Fiona Dickinson
- Senior Research Associate, International Public Health
- Centre for Childbirth, Women’s and Newborn Health
Biography
Fiona Dickinson has a BSc (hons) degree in Midwifery, a MSc in Social Research Methods and a PhD in Global health. She is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
She has worked at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) for more than 12 years, currently as a Postdoctoral Research Associate. Prior to LSTM she worked as a Staff Midwife and Midwifery Research Assistant in the NHS and as a Healthcare Manager for an NGO-run orphanage in north Africa.
Previous projects have included a wide variety of maternal and newborn health research studies and implementation packages across sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. Her current research projects include patient reported outcome measure for assessing quality of care in maternity services, evaluating a national programme of maternal and newborn health improvement innovations in Nigeria, a peer-mother breastfeeding support for mothers of low-birth-weight babies in western Kenya, and quality improvement training using standards-based audit in Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania.
Research interests
Fiona has a particular interest in the assessment and improvement of care quality for women and newborns and the provision of breastfeeding support for new mothers. She completed her PhD in Global Health in 2021, during which she developed the Maternity Patient Reported Outcome Measure.
Teaching
Fiona has taught and assessed at postgraduate level, including on the Diploma in Tropical Nursing, the Diploma in Reproductive Health, and Masters modules on Quality Improvements in Maternal and Newborn Health. She is currently supervising two PhD students and two MSc students.
Selected research publications
A survey on the use of continuous positive airway pressure in newborn care in Kenya in 2017-2018 – Journal: PLoS ONE – Published: 30th April 2025
The effect of emergency obstetric and newborn care training interventions on knowledge and skills of midwifery students prior to graduation in Kenya: A quasi-experimental study using a non-randomised controlled study design – Journal: International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences – Published: 1st June 2024
“It’s complicated…”: Exploring second stage caesarean sections and reasons for non-performance of assisted vaginal births in Kenya: a mixed methods study – Journal: PLOS Global Public Health – Published: 17th November 2023
A synthesis of clinical and health system bottlenecks to implementing new WHO postpartum hemorrhage recommendations: Secondary data analysis of the Kenya. Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths 2014–2017 – Journal: International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics – Published: 28th June 2022
Assessing quality of care in maternity services in low and middle-income countries: Development of a Maternity Patient Reported Outcome Measure – Journal: PLOS Global Public Health – Published: 15th March 2022
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