An LSTM student’s maternal health research has been published in a leading journal.
Aimee Hairon’s co-authored paper on the use of caesarean sections in Bangladesh is in the latest issue of PLOS Global Health.
Hairon was an intercalating medical student on the Master of Public Health (International) course and graduated last year.
Her paper, ‘“I can’t make it safe, so I don’t do it”: Exploring Obstetricians' views on barriers and enablers to promoting vaginal birth after Caesarean Section in Bangladesh’ is co-authored with colleagues from the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research Bangladesh.
The study highlights barriers to the safe practice of vaginal birth after caesarean section (VBAC) in the Dhaka division in Bangladesh. It outlines the limitations of the healthcare system to support an environment conducive to safe VBAC, based on interviews with obstetricians, as well as the non-clinical factors influencing the rise in caesarean sections.
The paper authors recommend that health system improvement and community awareness of the benefits of normal vaginal birth are required to increase VBAC rates.
Terry Kana, Senior Lecturer in Tropical Nursing and Midwifery at LSTM, said: “This paper is the culmination of Aimee’s hard work as a student at LSTM where she collaborated with researchers at CIPRB in Bangladesh. This achievement should encourage other master’s students to publish their work in a peer-reviewed journal.”
Hairon said: “Having this work published feels very rewarding and is not something I could have achieved without the fantastic research skills training I received at LSTM. I am also very grateful for the incredible support from my supervisor, Terry Kana, at LSTM, and the contributions of the entire research team in Bangladesh, whose collaboration made this study possible.”