Global Women's and Newborn's Health Group

Co-Heads: Professor Caroline Homer AO and Associate Professor Joshua Vogel

Overview

The Global Women’s and Newborn’s Health Group is co-led by Professor Caroline Homer and Dr Joshua Vogel. The Group aims to improve the health and well-being of women, newborns and families in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Group’s areas of focus are:

  • Improving the coverage and quality of sexual, reproductive, maternal and newborn healthcare, with an emphasis on timely, respectful, person-centred care
  • Targeting major causes of maternal morbidity and mortality, particularly prevention and treatment of postpartum haemorrhage, hypertensive disorders, peripartum infections, unsafe abortion, indirect causes, mental health and nutritional issues
  • Addressing the major causes of perinatal and neonatal morbidity and mortality, particularly stillbirth, preterm birth, low birth weight and neonatal sepsis
  • Providing expert guidance and support to strengthen the maternity care workforce, particularly through midwifery education and development.
  • Prioritising women’s and newborn’s health in humanitarian crises and public health emergencies, including environmental change, civil disruption and disease outbreaks.

We address these areas through:

  • Leading and supporting high-quality primary research and knowledge synthesis, particularly in limited-resource settings
  • Providing technical advice through collaborative partnerships with institutions, UN agencies and governments in the Asia-Pacific region
  • Offering research supervision and training opportunities
  • Recognising that protecting the sexual and reproductive health and rights of individuals empowers all members of a community

Our working group recognises that individuals have diverse gender identities. Terms such as pregnant person, childbearing people and parent can be used to avoid gendering birth, and those who give birth, as feminine. However, because women are also marginalised and oppressed in most places around the world, we have continued to use the terms woman, mother or maternity. When we use these words, it is not meant to exclude those who give birth and do not identify as women.

Hear more from Global Women’s and Newborn’s Health Group Co-Head, Professor Caroline Homer AO, in Episode 6 of our How Science Matters Podcast.

Staff Members

Program

Contact Details

Professor Caroline Homer AO

Burnet Executive Team; Co-Program Director, Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health; Working Group Head

Email

Caroline.homer@burnet.edu.au

Projects

  • Antenatal and postnatal care remote contacts guidance

  • Cost-effectiveness evidence for maternal and perinatal health interventions

  • Cost-effectiveness of antenatal corticosteroids for women at risk of imminent preterm birth in the early preterm period in low resource countries

  • COVID-19 Journey Project

  • Evaluating the WHO Labour Care Guide in clinical settings

  • Experiences of receiving or providing maternity care during CoVID-19 pandemic: The CovMat Study

  • HMHB: Quality of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Newborn Health Services Study

  • Implementing the WHO Labour Care Guide to reduce the use of Caesarean section in four hospitals in India

  • Living guidelines in maternal and perinatal health

  • Mapping of COVID-19-related pregnancy and perinatal research in Australia

  • Midwifery Faculty Development Program

  • National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce

  • Rapid review of maternal health recommendations related to the COVID-19 pandemic

  • Review of Midwifery Curricula Timor-Leste

  • SCOOP: Strengthening COVID-19 Communication in Pregnancy

  • Stakeholder experiences of father engagement interventions in low- and middle-income countries

  • Strengthen Emergency Obstetric Newborn Care (EmONC) training through a Master Train-the-Trainer Program

  • The WHO ACTION-III Trial: antenatal corticosteroids for improving outcomes in preterm newborns

  • Transformative Agenda for Women, Adolescents and Youth in the Pacific: Family Life Education

  • Transformative Agenda for Women, Adolescents and Youth in the Pacific: Strengthening Health Management Information Systems

  • Transformative Agenda for Women, Adolescents and Youth in the Pacific: Strengthening Midwifery Education

  • WHO recommendations on antenatal corticosteroids and tocolytics for improving preterm birth outcomes

Staff Members

  • Doctor Alyce Wilson

    Doctor Alyce Wilson
    Senior Research Fellow (Honorary)

  • Amanda Blair

    Amanda Blair
    PhD student

  • Doctor Annie McDougall

    Doctor Annie McDougall
    Research Officer

  • Annie Tan

    Annie Tan
    Research Assistant / PhD Candidate

  • Ben Sanderson

    Ben Sanderson
    Research Assistant

  • Doctor Billie Bradford

    Doctor Billie Bradford
    Research Staff

  • Boe Calvert

    Boe Calvert
    Research Midwife / Research Assistant

  • Professor Caroline Homer AO

    Professor Caroline Homer AO
    Burnet Executive Team; Co-Program Director, Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health; Working Group Head

  • Connor Allen

    Connor Allen
    Honours Student

  • Doctor Elizabeth Armari

    Doctor Elizabeth Armari
    PhD Candidate and Senior Research Officer

  • Jenny Cao

    Jenny Cao
    International Health Project Officer

  • Jenny Jung

    Jenny Jung
    Research Assistant, PhD Candidate

  • Associate Professor Joshua Vogel

    Associate Professor Joshua Vogel
    Principal Research Fellow; Co-Head, International Development

  • Kara Blackburn

    Kara Blackburn
    Research Midwife

  • Kate Mills

    Kate Mills
    Research Officer

  • Katherine Eddy

    Katherine Eddy
    International Health Project Officer

  • Lachlan Faktor

    Lachlan Faktor
    Honours Student

  • Liz Comrie-Thomson

    Liz Comrie-Thomson
    Women's and Children's Health Specialist

  • Mary Malek

    Mary Malek
    Honours Student

  • Milena Dalton

    Milena Dalton
    Senior Research Fellow, Immunisation and Health Systems Strengthening

  • Rachel Smith

    Rachel Smith
    Midwifery Specialist

  • Sarah Cheang

    Sarah Cheang
    Honours Student

  • Doctor Sayaka Horiuchi

    Doctor Sayaka Horiuchi
    Research Collaborator

  • Sieyin Phung

    Sieyin Phung
    Program Manager

  • Tanya Cugura

    Tanya Cugura
    Program Manager

  • Zeshi Fisher

    Zeshi Fisher
    Technical Officer