Dr Charles Anawo Ameh

Professor, Head Department of International Public Health

Dr Charles Ameh is a Professor in Global Health. He has a medical degree from the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria Nigeria, completed his residency in Obstetrics and Gynaecology from the West African College of Surgeons (FWACS). He has a Master in Public Health and Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Liverpool. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal Society of Public Health and a Senior Fellow of The Higher Education Academy.

Charles is a co-Director World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Maternal and Newborn Health, and deputy Head International Public Health Department, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. He is also a member of the WHO Maternal, Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response Technical Working Group, member of Africa CDC covid-19 task force, and a member WHO Technical Advisory Group on Maternal Mortality and Maternal Cause of Death Estimation. Charles is a member of the steering committee of the Global Alliance for Midwifery  Education.

Charles has an established international reputation in Emergency Obstetric Care, Antenatal and Postnatal capacity strengthening (undergraduate and postgraduate), Obstetric Early Warning Systems, MNH quality of care including Maternal, Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response and Health System Strengthening in low-income countries. He has substantial online teaching expertise and has published considerably in the field of global maternal health. He is an adjunct faculty at the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Nairobi, external examiner to MoI University Kenya and London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Charles is also on the editorial board of several leading global Public Health journals. He has trained health workers in emergency obstetric care training including assisted vaginal birth in over 15 counties in Africa and Asia including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Togo, Chad, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Ethiopia, Somaliland, Namibia, and Zimbabwe 

Awards

  • Awarded the Fellowship of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology: Achieved the highest level of dedication and achievement in clinical care and support to the development of women’s healthcare services- Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology London, 2016
  • Lead the CMNH LSTM team declared the winner in the Women’s Health Category of the 2015 BMJ awards for the multi-country Emergency Obstetric Newborn Care training programme
  • The article “The impact of emergency obstetric care training in Somaliland, Somalia” selected as one of the top global medicine articles of 2012 by Global Emergency Medicine Literature Review Editorial Board, 2013
  • Achieved “The John Lawson Prize 2012”, undertakes the best article on a topic of Obstetrics or Gynaecology derived from work carried out in Africa between the tropics of Capricorn and Cancer-Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology London 2013

Teaching

Convener of professional course in Emergency Obstetric Care, teaching on Masters modules in sexual and reproductive health (TROP 923, 924, 926, 972), Diploma in Reproductive Health for Developing countries, Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and University of Liverpool undergraduate module “Topics in Global Health”. Teaching/examination role at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of Sheffield, University of Bedfordshire, the University of Liverpool, the University of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, Moi University and University of Nairobi.

Areas of research

The research focuses around implementation research (T3) and deploying health systems (T4). Our research themes are

  1. Emergency obstetric care, Antenatal Care, Postnatal Care
    1. Undergraduate training
    2. Post-graduate training
    3. Training retention
    4. Health System financing of MNH
    5. Caesarean section
  2. Quality of Care
    1. Maternal Death Surveillance and Response systems
    2. MDSR accountability frameworks
    3. Iron use for Peri partum anaemia
    4. Obstetric clinical care monitoring tools such as Obstetric Early Warming Systems

Charles has conducted research and provided technical assistance Togo, Chad, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Ethiopia, Somaliland, Namibia, and Zimbabwe 

PhD students

  • Jamila Al Abri: Maternal Near Miss Audits in Oman (2015-2020)
  • Dr Aminu Umar: Design and Evaluation of MEOWS chart in low resource settings-Nigeria (2017-2020)
  • Duncan Shikuku: Improving the Quality of Midwifery Education in Kenya. (2020-)
  • Dr Hauwa Mohammed: Improving the effectiveness of frontline maternity care providers in Nigeria (2020-)
  • Ambayo Peter Otte Nyumbe: Impact Of Financing the Essential Health Services Package On Utilization Of Maternal And Newborn Health Services in South Sudan (2020-)
  • Sylvia Sia Yomba Fasuluku: Evaluation of Emergency Obstetric Care strategies and implementation in Low-and Middle-income Countries (2022-)
  • Dr Maria Angelica Rweyemamu: Effective coverage of ANC/PNC in Tanzania: Situational analysis and evaluation of specific package of intervention (2022-)
  • Zainab Suleiman: Improving Reproductive Health Inservice Capacity strengthening programmes: A comparison of 2 training approaches.(2022-)
  • Dr Victoria Adaramoye: Intravenous ferric carboxymaltose versus oral ferrous sulphate for the treatment of postpartum anaemia in Nigerian women (IVON-PP): an open labelled randomized controlled trial. (2022-)
  • Dr MoBolanle Balogun. Adoption and routinization of low molecular weight intravenous iron for the treatment of iron deficiency anaemia in pregnancy and immediate postpartum period (2022-)
  • Ummi Abubakar: Evaluation of the effectiveness of ANC/PNC interventions on the quality of care in Nigeria (2022-)

Current grants

  • PI: GBP: $449, 958. Design, implementation, and evaluation of Skilled Health Personnel educator CPD programme In Kenya. Johnson and Johnson Foundation. (10/2022-09/2023)
  • PI: GBP 13M. Evaluating interventions to improve maternal and newborn health in Kenya. DFID Kenya. 04/2019-03/2023
  • PI: USD 5.1M. Improving the quality of ANC/PNC in Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. 01/2021-12/2024

Previous grants

  • PI: GBP £999,132. Quality improvement for Integrated HIV, TB and Malaria services during Antenatal and Postnatal Care – Togo. Unite de Gestion des Projets. 03/2022-02/2025
  • PI: GBP 227, 531. Design, implementation, and evaluation of nursing/midwifery CPD programme In Kenya. Johnson and Johnson Foundation. 04/2021-04/2022.
  • PI: GBP 80, 876. Co-Creation Workshop Nigeria to Understand the Challenges And Gaps In
    Nursing/Midwifery Profession in Nigeria and development of a road map to address these
    project. Johnson and Johnson Foundation. 12/2021-06/2022.
  • PI: GBP 58, 970. Yellow Alert Project: Improving Capacity to manage neonatal jaundice in South-south Nigeria. 15.12.2021-30.06.2022
  • PI: GBP 227, 531. Design, implementation of nursing/midwifery CPD educator programme in Kenya. Johnson and Johnson Foundation. 01/04/2021-31/03/2022
  • PI: GBP 3,150,962. Improving Content and Quality of Antenatal and Postnatal Care. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. 09/2020-12/2021
  • PI: GBP 223, 880.60. Design and evaluation of a Centre for Excellence for continuous nursing/midwifery education in Kwara state Nigeria. Johnson and Johnson Foundation. 01/12/2020-31/05/2022
  • PI: £308, 131. Development of facility-based mentorship training package and remote training facilitation. United Nations Population Fund. 08/2020-12/2021
  • PI £1, 099, 296. Quality improvement for Integrated HIV, TB and Malaria services during Antenatal and Postnatal Care in Chad. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.02/2020-01/2022
  • PI: GB 181, 534.811. Developing and evaluating training packages for Comprehensive Abortion Care, Emergency Obstetric Care and Mentoring, using a blended learning approach. UNFPA. June 2020-Dec. 2021
  • PI: $121, 640. COVID-19 support for Nigeria: Evaluating the health facility preparedness for COVID-19. Johnson and Johnson Foundation June-December 2020
  • PI: USD 800, 000. Evaluation of extended Emergency Obstetric Care training package in Kwara state Nigeria-Phase 3. Resource Foundation. February 2018 to July 2020
  • PI: USD 443,235. National Assessment of Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care in Namibia. WHO Namibia. June-December 2016
  • PI: USD 560,250. Evaluation of Emergency obstetric care training and quality improvement programme in Tanzania. UNICEF Tanzania. September 2016- February 2018
  • PI: USD 999, 232. Kenya Pre-service EmOC Training Interventions (PETI) study ISRCTN74563398. DFID Kenya. September 2016- April 2019
  • PI: GBP 340, 235. RCT on the effectiveness of mentoring in Sierra Leone ISRCTN94184374. Resource Foundation. January 2017-July 2018
  • PI: USD 197, 985. Evaluation of emergency obstetric and neonatal care training and supportive supervision of trainees in Namibia. WHO Namibia. June-December 2016.
  • PI: GBP 35, 203. Technical Assistance for the development of Zimbabwe national EmOC improvement plan. UNFPA Zimbabwe. April-September 2016
  • PI: GBP 312,412. Impact Evaluation of the Nigeria Maternal Neonatal and Child Health Week. UNICEF. June 2015-30 June 2016.
  • PI: GBP 515,195. Evaluation of EmOC Training in north-east Kenya. UNFPA Kenya. July 2015-30 June 2016.
  • PI: GBP 261,438. Improving the availability and quality of Maternal and Newborn Health in Kwara State, Nigeria. Phase 2. Johnson and Johnson USA. 16 February 2016- 15 February 2017
  • PI: USD 250, 000. Evaluation of Emergency Obstetric and Quality Improvement programme in Kwara state Nigeria-Phase 1. January 2015 to June 2016
  • PI: Euro 51, 218. Evaluation of EmONC capacity building intervention in North Bombali Sierra Leone. European Commission. September 2014 to December 2015.
  • PI: USD 45, 000. Evaluation of the psychological impact of ebola viral disease outbreak on health care providers in Sierra Leone. Voluntary Services Overseas. December 2014 to 31 July 2015
  • Co-I: USD 1, 306, 970. In-service Capacity Building and Training for Health Workers in Sierra Leone: Design and evaluation of training package.
  • PI: GBP 74,126.70. Evaluation of Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care training in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja Nigeria. April 2010-March 2014
  • Co-I: Reducing Maternal and Neonatal Deaths in Kenya-Evaluation of Emergency Obstetric Care and quality improvement interventions in 3 regions of Kenya. DFID Kenya. £9,318,000. April 2014 to March 2019
  • Co-I. GBP 15,862,730. Making it Happen programme (Phase 2)-Evaluation of maternal and newborn health interventions in 11 countries. DFID UK. 2012-2016
  • Co-I. GBP 2,830,000. Making it Happen programme (Phase 1)-Evaluation of maternal and newborn care interventions in 5 countries. 2009-2011
  • Co-I. GBP 12, 000. A systematic review of Emergency Obstetric Care in LMICs. World Health Organisation. January-June 2011
  • Co-I. GBP 7, 580. A systematic review on Misoprostol uses in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. World Health Organisation. 2009-2010
  • Co-I. GBP 142,341. Improving the reproductive and sexual health of internally displaced people in Maroodi Jeex Somaliland. European Union. 2008-2013
  • Co-I. GBP 5, 500. Secondary analysis of WHO data set on maternal mortality, to assess the global classification of causes of maternal deaths. World Health Organisation. 2007-2008
  • Co-I. GBP 195,342. Evaluation of the impact of capacity building in emergency obstetric care in Somaliland Health Systems Strengthening Programme. The DFID United Kingdom. 2007-2010

Professional Activities

  • Mentor LSTM Leading in Global Health (LIGHT) programme
  • Scientific committee member International Federation of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians FIGO regional congress Kigali Rwanda June 2020
  • Scientific committee member Global Society for Women’s health research (GLOW) 2020.

Editorial Board Membership/Editorships

  • Guest Editor FIGO PPH supplement to International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 2021-2022
  • Guest Editor for WHO Special Supplement to BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 2021-2022
  • EBM: PLOS Global Public Health (2021-date)
  • EBM: BMC pregnancy and childbirth (2019-date)
  • EBM: International Health (2018-date)
  • EBM: PLOS ONE (2018-2021)

Examination roles

  • External examiner: Masters in Reproductive and Sexual Health Research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (April 2019 to December 2023)
  • PhD.: College of Health Sciences, University of Kwazulu Natal, Republic of South Africa (2017, 2018, 2021)
  • PhD.: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (2018, 2019, 2022)
  • PhD.: University of Liverpool (2018)
  • PhD.: University of Sheffield (2018)
  • PhD.: University of Bedfordshire (2019)
  • PhD.: Norwegian University of Science and Technology (2021)
  • PhD.: Kings College London (2021)
  • PhD.: LSTM (2022)
  • PhD.: University of Warwick (2022)

External administrative or committee roles

  • Member Steering Committee Global Alliance for Midwifery Education (October 2021-date)
  • Quality of Care track lead, Programme Committee, International Conference for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (Cape Town May 2023)
  • Member, Case Management Technical Working Group, Africa Taskforce for novel coronavirus, CDC Africa (April 2020-Dec. 2022)
  • Member WHO Technical Advisory Group on Maternal Mortality and Maternal Cause of Death Estimation (July 2021-2023)
  • Member Global Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) Technical Working Group (04/2021-date)
  • Member Royal College of Midwives Advisory Board (2016-2017)
  • Member Medical Aid Films Advisory Panel May (2016-2018)
  • Member Kiwi Vacuum Delivery Collaborative Technical Advisory Team for the development of an improved device (2016-2017)
  • Technical adviser to Life for Every Mother Charity, this Maternal Health charity aims to make birth safer in sub-Saharan Africa, by providing medication to treat eclampsia and post-partum haemorrhage (2013 to 2018)
  • Board member Flight for Every Mother project: Board member on the Flight for Every Mother project. The project was to highlight the maternal mortality situation in sub-Saharan Africa and promote safer pregnancy for women through educating health Professionals-September 2012 to April 2014

Other affiliations

  • Honorary Senior lecturer Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Nairobi, Kenya (February 2019-date)
  • Honorary Lecturer University of Liverpool

Professional memberships

  • Fellow Royal Society of Public Health (Registration number 122785)
  • Fellow Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (Registration number 145115)
  • Royal Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (Registration number 0014748)
  • Society for Gynaecologists and Obstetricians Nigeria
Recent publications: 

    Selected publications

      • Pattinson RC, Bergh AM, Makin J, Pillay Y, Moodley J, Madaj B, Ameh CA, van den Broek N.  Obstetrics knowledge and skills training as a catalyst for change. South African Medical Journal 2018;108:748-55. DOI: 10.7196/SAMJ.2018.v108i9.13073 Available at: http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/view/12399.
      • Ameh CA, White S, Dickinson F, Mdegela M, Madaj B, van den Broek N 2018. Retention of knowledge and skills after Emergency Obstetric Care training: A multi-country longitudinal study. PLoS ONE 13(10): e0203606. https://doi.org/ 10.1371/journal.pone.0203606
      • Jones S, Gopalakrishnan S, Ameh CA, Faragher B, Sam B, Labicane RR, Kanu H, Dabo F, Mansary M, Kanu R, van den Broek N, Student evaluation of the impact of changes in teaching style on their learning: a mixed-method longitudinal study. BMC Nursing (2018) 17:24 http://doi.org/10.1186/512912-018-0293-2
      • Smith H, Ameh C, Godia P, Maua J, Bartilol K, Amoth P, Mathai M, van den Broek N. Glob Health Sci Pract. 2017 Dec 28;5(4):697-698. DOI: 10.9745/GHSP-D-17-00407. Print 2017 Dec 28. Authors' Response to Editorial: Maternal Death Surveillance and A Tall Order for Effectiveness in Resource-Poor Settings.
      • Smith H, Ameh C, Godia P, Maua J, Bartilol K, Amoth P, Mathai M, van den Broek N Implementing maternal death surveillance and response in Kenya: incremental progress and lessons learned. Glob Health Sci Pract. 2017;5(3). DOI: 10.9745/GHSP-D-17-00130
      • Smith H, Ameh C, Roos, N, Mathai, M, van den Broek N:  Implementing maternal death surveillance and response: a review of lessons from country case studies. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth (2017) 17:233 DOI 10.1186/s12884-017-1405-6
      • Banke-Thomas O. E, Banke-Thomas A. O, Ameh C. A. Factors influencing utilisation of maternal health services by adolescent mothers in Low-and middle-income countries: a systematic review. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2017 Feb 16;17(1):65. DOI: 10.1186/s12884-017-1246-3
      • Banke-Thomas A, Banke-Thomas O, Kivuvani M, Ameh CA (2017). Maternal health services utilisation by Kenyan adolescent mothers: Analysis of the Demographic Health Survey 2014. Sex Reprod Healthc. 2017 Jun; 12:37-46. DOI: 10.1016/j.srhc.2017.02.004. Epub 2017 Feb 17. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877575616301434
      • Allot, H, Smith H, Kana T, Mdegela M, Bar Zeev, S, Ameh C. A: Possible Reasons for Limited Effectiveness of a Skills and Drills Intervention to Improve Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care. Glob Health Sci Pract 2017;5(1):175-176.http://dx.doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-17-00055
      • Banke-Thomas O, Banke-Thomas A, Ameh C. A. Utilisation of maternal health services by adolescent mothers in Kenya: analysis of the demographic health survey 2008–2009. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health. ISSN (Online) 2191-0278, ISSN (Print) 0334-0139, DOI: 10.1515/ijamh-2016-0042, October 2016
      • Jones S, Gopalakrishnan S, Ameh C. A, van den Broek N: Strengthening pre-service training for skilled attendance- An evaluation of the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Aides training programme in Sierra Leone. Nurse Education Today 41. March 2016
      • Jones S, Ameh C. A, Somasundari Gopalakrishnan, Nynke van den Broek: Building capacity for skilled birth attendance: An evaluation of the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Aides training programme in Sierra Leone. Midwifery 31(2015):1186-1192 December 2015
      • Banke-Thomas A, Ameh C. A, Madaj B, van den Broek, N. SROI Methodology in accounting for impact and value for money of public health interventions: a systematic review BMC Public Health. 2015 Jun 24; 15:582. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-015-1935-7
      • Ameh C. A, van den Borek N. Making it Happen-Training healthcare providers in Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care. Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology. November 2015 Issue 29.8.
      • Ameh C. A, Adegoke A, Pattinson RC, van den Broek N. (2014) Using the new ICD-MM classification for attribution of cause of maternal death – a pilot study BJOG (121) DOI: 1111/1471-0528.12987
      • Owolabi H, Ameh C. A, Bar-Zeev S, Adaji S, Kachale F, van den Broek N (2014) Establishing the cause of maternal death in Malawi via facility-based review and application of the ICD-MM classification BJOG (121) DOI: 1111/1471-0528.12988
      • Kambai, T., K., Dellicour, S., Desai, M., Person, B., Ameh, C., A., Achieng, F., Mason, L., Laserson, K., F., and Ter Kuile, F., O. 2013. Perspectives of men on antenatal and delivery care service utilisation in rural western Kenya: A qualitative study. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 13:134 DOI:10.1186/1471-2393-13-13
      • Ameh, C. A, Msuya, S., Hofman, J., Raven, J., Mathai, M., van den Broek, N. 2012.Status of Emergency Obstetric Care in Six Developing Countries Five Years before the MDG Targets for Maternal and Newborn Health PLoS ONE, 7 (12), art. no. e49938
      • Ameh, C.A, Adegoke, A., Hofman, J., Ismail, F.M., Ahmed, F.M., Van Den Broek, N. The impact of emergency obstetric care training in Somaliland, Somalia 2012) International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 117 (3), pp. 283-287 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgo.2012.01.015  
      • Mdegela, M. H., Ameh, C. A. 2011 Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO) and post-partum haemorrhage: A prospective intervention study in Tanzania Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica 91 (2), pp. 274
      • Ameh, C. A., Ekechi, C. I. and Tukur, J., 2011. Monitoring Severe Pre-Eclampsia and Eclampsia Treatment in Resource-Poor Countries: Skilled Birth Attendant Perception of a New Treatment and Monitoring Chart (LIVKAN Chart). Maternal and child health journal, pp. 1-6.
      • Grady, K., Ameh, C. A, Adegoke, A., Kongnyuy, E., Dornan, J., Falconer, T., Islam, M. and van den Broek, N., 2011. Improving essential obstetric and newborn care in resource-poor countries. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 31(1), pp. 18-23.
      • Ameh, C. A., Bishop, S., Kongnyuy, E., Grady, K., van den Broek, N. 2011 Challenges to the provision of emergency obstetric care in Iraq. Maternal and child health journal, 15(1), pp. 4-11.
      • Ameh, C., A., Weeks, A.D. 2009. The role of instrumental vaginal delivery in low resource settings. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 116(SUPPL. 1), pp. 22-25.
      • Ameh, C., A., van den Broek, N, 2008. Increased risk of maternal death among ethnic minority women in the UK The Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, 10:177–182 10.1576/toag.10.3.177.27421 www.rcog.org.uk/togonline
      • van Lonkhuijzen, L., Ameh, C.A, Mdegela, M., Hulsbergen, M., Stekelenburg, J., van den Broek N., 2008. Life-Saving Skills: Essential Obstetric and Newborn Care training in Tanzania. NTOG, 121(6):159-161.
      • First Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths in Kenya-2018: DFID and UNFPA Kenya
      • Namibia National Emergency Obstetric Care Assessment Report-2016: World Health Organisation, Namibia
      • Impact Evaluation report of Nigeria Maternal Newborn and Child Health Weeks-2016: UNICEF Nigeria