Joy Elizabeth Lawn
Biographic Data
| ID | 379031 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Joy Elizabeth Lawn |
| GIVEN NAMES | Joy Elizabeth |
| FAMILY NAME | Lawn |
| SIGNATURE | LAWN J E |
| AFFILIATIONS | London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4573-1443 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 86 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 80 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 86 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Stillbirth and newborn data quality and use and related input and process factors
Background: High quality data is mandatory when shaping action-oriented policies aimed at reducing preventable neonatal deaths. Ethiopia has a high a neonatal mortality rate, but there has been limited assessment of the quality and use of newborn data, and its contributing factors. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study in Ethiopia from November 2022 to September 2023 in 35 sites: 24 facilities, 10 subnational data offices, and the Ministr…
“Now that the baby is out, I can be vaccinated”
COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective in pregnancy, but vaccine hesitancy limits uptake and effectiveness. This study explored COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in pregnancy in Kilifi, coastal Kenya, to elicit reasons for vaccine hesitancy and acceptance, and to compile misconceptions around vaccination in pregnancy. Twenty-three in-depth interviews were conducted with pregnant women, mothers who had given birth in the previous 2 years and health wor…
Stillbirth and newborn data quality and use and related input and process factors
Background: The reduction of preventable newborn deaths in low- and middle-income countries is a global priority. The availability of high-quality newborn and stillbirth data is essential for shaping action-oriented policies and interventions towards resolving these challenges. Using a mixed-methods approach, we evaluated the input and process factors hindering data quality and use in Uganda. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study from Nov…
Are hospital management practices associated with enhanced quality of care for small and sick newborns? A nationwide cross-sectional study using linked inpatient admission records in Malawi
Background: Improved quality of care is fundamental for reducing patient mortality and building sustainable health systems. Currently, there is a lack of research on the role of hospital management in improving the quality of care and health outcomes, particularly in low-income settings. Methods: We examined associations between hospital management practices and neonatal quality of care in Malawi. We adapted the World Management Survey tool to me…
We discovered new ways of learning’
BACKGROUND: Children with disabilities face many barriers to early childhood development services and to pre-primary education. Evidence on inclusive school readiness and community-based approaches in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) still remains limited. OBJECTIVE: To explore the feasibility and acceptability of a co-designed training programme for caregivers to support school readiness among children aged 4-6 years in Bangladesh, Nepal…
Beyond proximity
INTRODUCTION: Stillbirths are disproportionately concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, where geographical accessibility to basic/comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care (BEmONC and CEmONC) significantly influences maternal and perinatal outcomes. This study describes stillbirth rates within healthcare facilities in The Gambia and examines their distribution in relation to the geographical accessibility of these facilities. METHODS: We an…
Small and sick newborn care
Health Facility Assessments (HFAs) are important for measuring and tracking service readiness for small and sick newborn care (SSNC). NEST360 Alliance aims to reduce neonatal mortality in four countries (Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania). NEST360 and UNICEF facilitated HFA tool design with ministries of health in four African countries and developed two complimentary approaches to summarise readiness. Using the NEST360/UNICEF HFA tool, we collect…
Facility newborn and stillbirth data use and enabling factors at different levels of the health system
Background: Improving data quality and use is a priority identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) to reduce stillbirths and newborn deaths; however, few studies have documented newborn and stillbirth data use in the African Region. To address this gap, we conducted a cross-sectional study from November 2022 to July 2024 in 12 regions and four city administrations across the Central African Republic (CAR), Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda. …
Functionalities of electronic routine health information systems related to newborn data
Background: Adequate functionality of electronic routine health information systems (eRHISs) is crucial for data use, yet few studies explored it in relation to newborn and stillbirth data in Africa. Methods: We conducted this cross-sectional study between November 2022 and July 2024 in data offices at central and subnational levels in 12 regions and 4 city administrations in the Central African Republic (CAR), Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda. Exc…
Unwrapping the Global Financing Facility
The Global Financing Facility (GFF), launched in 2015, aims to catalyse funding for reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health, and nutrition. Few independent assessments have evaluated its processes and impact. We conducted a multi-layered policy analysis of GFF documents - the Investment Cases (ICs) and the GFF-linked World Bank Project Appraisal Documents (PADs) - examining the content of GFF documents for 28 countries, comp…
Who is at the table and who has the power? Case study analysis of decision-making processes for the Global Financing Facility in Tanzania
BACKGROUND: In 2015, Tanzania joined the Global Financing Facility (GFF), a global health initiative for Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health and Nutrition (RMNCAH-N). Despite its resource mobilization goals, little is known about power dynamics in GFF policy processes. This paper presents the first power analysis of Tanzania's GFF engagement. OBJECTIVE: To examine policy processes in developing GFF documents during its f…
Behind the billions
Long-term healthcare utilisation, costs and quality of life after invasive group B Streptococcus disease
INTRODUCTION: disease (iGBS) on economic costs or health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in low-income and middle-income countries. We assessed the impact of iGBS on healthcare utilisation, costs and HRQoL in Argentina, India, Kenya, Mozambique and South Africa. METHODS: Inpatient and outpatient visits, out-of-pocket (OOP) healthcare payments in the 12 months before study enrolment, and health-state utility of children and caregivers (using the E…
How and why does mode of birth affect processes for routine data collection and use? A qualitative study in Bangladesh and Tanzania
The World Health Organization recognises Routine Health Information System (RHIS) data as integral to data-driven health systems; needed to improve intrapartum outcomes for maternal and newborn health worldwide. However, research in Bangladesh and Tanzania suggests that mode of birth affects register data accuracy, but little is known about why. To address this gap, we undertook qualitative research in these two public-sector health systems. We c…
Kangaroo mother care prior to clinical stabilisation
Kangaroo mother care (KMC) is an evidence-based method to improve newborn survival. However, scale-up even for stable newborns has been slow, with reported barriers to implementation. We examined facilitators and barriers to initiating KMC before stabilisation amongst neonates recruited to the OMWaNA study in Uganda. The OMWaNA study was a randomised controlled trial that examined the mortality effect of KMC prior to stabilisation amongst newborn…
Examining priorities and investments made through the Global Financing Facility for maternal and newborn health
Improving quality of care could avert most of the 4.5 million maternal and neonatal deaths and stillbirths that occur each year. The Global Financing Facility (GFF) aims to catalyse the national scale-up of maternal and newborn health (MNH) interventions through focused investments. Achieving impact and value for money requires high, equitable coverage and high quality of interventions. This study examines whether the rhetoric of increasing cover…
Global Financing Facility investments for vulnerable populations
BACKGROUND: The Global Financing Facility (GFF) was launched in 2015 to catalyse increased domestic and external financing for reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, adolescent health, and nutrition. Half of the deaths along this continuum are neonatal deaths, stillbirths or maternal deaths; yet these topics receive the least aid financing across the continuum. OBJECTIVES: To conduct a policy content analysis of maternal and newborn health (MNH)…
National, regional, and global estimates of preterm birth in 2020, with trends from 2010
BACKGROUND: Preterm birth is the leading cause of neonatal mortality and is associated with long-term physical, neurodevelopmental, and socioeconomic effects. This study updated national preterm birth rates and trends, plus novel estimates by gestational age subgroups, to inform progress towards global health goals and targets, and aimed to update country, regional, and global estimates of preterm birth for 2020 in addition to trends between 2010…
Closing the birth registration gap for Every newborn facility birth
BACKGROUND: Birth registration is vital to provide legal identity and access to essential services. Worldwide, approximately 166 million children under five years (just under 25%) are unregistered, yet >80% of all births occur in health facilities in most low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). OBJECTIVES: This study, conducted in association with UNICEF, aims to review facility-based birth registration initiatives, and provide recommendations t…
Measuring coverage and quality of supportive care for inpatient neonatal infections
Background: An estimated 7 million episodes of severe newborn infections occur annually worldwide, with half a million newborn deaths, most occurring in low- and middle-income countries. Whilst injectable antibiotics are necessary to treat the infection, supportive care is also crucial in ending preventable mortality and morbidity. This study uses multi-country data to assess gaps in coverage, quality, and documentation of supportive care, consid…
A Lancet Commission on 70 years of women's reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health in China
Small and sick newborn care during the Covid-19 pandemic
INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting health systems globally. Maternity care disruptions have been surveyed, but not those related to vulnerable small newborns. We aimed to survey reported disruptions to small and sick newborn care worldwide and undertake thematic analysis of healthcare providers' experiences and proposed mitigation strategies. METHODS: Using a widely disseminated online survey in three languages, we reached out to n…
We All Join Hands
Family support is essential for kangaroo mother care (KMC), but there is limited research regarding perceptions of female relatives, and none published from West African contexts. In-depth interviews were conducted from July to August 2017 with a purposive sample of 11 female relatives of preterm neonates admitted to The Gambia's referral hospital. Data were coded in NVivo 11, and thematic analysis was conducted applying an inductive framework. F…
Effect of the Covid-19 pandemic response on intrapartum care, stillbirth, and neonatal mortality outcomes in Nepal
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic response is affecting maternal and neonatal health services all over the world. We aimed to assess the number of institutional births, their outcomes (institutional stillbirth and neonatal mortality rate), and quality of intrapartum care before and during the national COVID-19 lockdown in Nepal. METHODS: In this prospective observational study, we collected participant-level data for pregnant women enrolled in th…
Learning from Nepal’s Progress to Inform the Path to the Sustainable Development Goals for Health, Leaving No-One Behind
Learning from Nepal's Progress to Inform the Path to the Sustainable Development Goals for Health, Leaving No-One Behind
Newborn survival in Malawi
Malawi is one of two low-income sub-Saharan African countries on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG 4) for child survival despite high fertility and HIV and low health worker density. With neonatal deaths becoming an increasing proportion of under-five deaths, addressing newborn survival is critical for achieving MDG 4. We examine change for newborn survival in the decade 2000–10, analysing mortality and coverage indicators whilst…
Newborn survival
Neonatal deaths account for 40% of global under-five mortality and are ever more important if we are to achieve the Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG 4) on child survival. We applied a results framework to evaluate global and national changes for neonatal mortality rates (NMR), healthy behaviours, intervention coverage, health system change, and inputs including funding, while considering contextual changes. The average annual rate of reduction …
Newborn survival in Uganda
Each year in Uganda 141 000 children die before reaching their fifth birthday; 26% of these children die in their first month of life. In a setting of persistently high fertility rates, a crisis in human resources for health and a recent history of civil unrest, Uganda has prioritized Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 for child and maternal survival. As part of a multi-country analysis we examined change for newborn survival over the past deca…
Benchmarks to measure readiness to integrate and scale up newborn survival interventions
Neonatal mortality accounts for 40% of under-five child mortality. Evidence-based interventions exist, but attention to implementation is recent. Nationally representative coverage data for these neonatal interventions are limited; therefore proximal measures of progress toward scale would be valuable for tracking change among countries and over time. We describe the process of selecting a set of benchmarks to assess scale up readiness or the deg…
Overview, methods and results of multi-country community-based maternal and newborn care economic analysis
Home visits for pregnancy and postnatal care were endorsed by the WHO and partners as a complementary strategy to facility-based care to reduce newborn and maternal mortality. This article aims to synthesise findings and implications from the economic analyses of community-based maternal and newborn care (CBMNC) evaluations in seven countries. The evaluations included five cluster randomized trials (Ethiopia, Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda…
Saving newborn lives in Asia and Africa
BACKGROUND: Policy makers and programme managers require more detailed information on the cost and impact of packages of evidenced-based interventions to save newborn lives, particularly in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where most of the world's 4 million newborn deaths occur. METHODS: We estimated the newborn deaths that could be averted by scaling up 16 interventions in 60 countries. We bundled the interventions in a variety of existing ma…
Newborn survival in Pakistan
Pakistan has the world's third highest national number of newborn deaths (194 000 in 2010). Major national challenges over the past decade have affected health and development including several large humanitarian disasters, destabilizing political insurgency, high levels of poverty and an often hard-to-reach predominately rural population with diverse practices. As part of a multi-country analysis, we examined changes for newborn survival between…
Malawi three district evaluation
Malawi is one of few low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa to have met the fourth Millennium Development Goal for child survival (MDG 4). To accelerate progress towards MDGs, the Malawi Ministry of Health's Reproductive Health Unit - in partnership with Save the Children, UNICEF and others - implemented a Community Based Maternal and Newborn Care (CBMNC) package, integrated within the existing community-based system. Multi-purpose Health Sur…
Community-Based Interventions for Newborns in Ethiopia (Combine)
About 87 000 neonates die annually in Ethiopia, with slower progress than for child deaths and 85% of births are at home. As part of a multi-country, standardized economic evaluation, we examine the incremental benefit and costs of providing management of possible serious bacterial infection (PSBI) for newborns at health posts in Ethiopia by Health Extension Workers (HEWs), linked to improved implementation of existing policy for community-based …
Newborn survival
The first month of a baby’s life is surrounded by emotion and new experiences. The mother and father are learning how to be parents, interpreting and responding to the myriad of different cries, sounds and movements. Parents everywhere are concerned that their new baby is warm, safe and feeds well. The first month is one of soaring hopes and possibilities. Yet that month, and especially the birth and first few days after, carries the highest risk…
South-Africa (Goodstart III) trial
In light of South Africa's generalized HIV/AIDS epidemic coupled with high infant mortality, we undertook a cluster Randomized Control Trial (2008-10) assessing the effect of Community Health Worker (CHW) antenatal and postnatal home visits on, amongst other indicators, levels of HIV-free survival, and exclusive and appropriate infant feeding at 12 weeks. Cost and time implications were calculated, by assessing the 15 participating CHWs, using fi…
Uganda Newborn Study (Unest) trial
The Uganda Newborn Study (UNEST) was a two-arm cluster Randomized Control Trial to study the effect of pregnancy and postnatal home visits by local community health workers called 'Village Health Teams' (VHT) coupled with health systems strengthening. To inform programme planning and decision making, additional economic and financial costs of community and facility components were estimated from the perspective of the provider using the Excel-bas…
Multi-country analysis of the cost of community health workers kits and commodities for community-based maternal and newborn care
Community-based maternal and newborn care with home visits by community health workers (CHWs) are recommended by WHO to complement facility-based care. As part of multi-country economic and systems analyses, we aimed to compare the content and financial costs associated with equipping CHWs or 'home visit kits' from seven studies in Bolivia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. We estimated the equivalent annual costs (EACs)…
Million Neonatal Deaths
Continuum of care for maternal, newborn, and child health
Achieving child survival goals
Alma-Ata 30 years on
Setting Priorities in Global Child Health Research Investments
This article provides detailed guidelines for the implementation of systematic method for setting priorities in health research investments that was recently developed by Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI). The target audience for the proposed method are international agencies, large research funding donors, and national governments and policy-makers. The process has the following steps: (i) selecting the managers of the proce…
Saving newborn lives in Asia and Africa
BACKGROUND: Policy makers and programme managers require more detailed information on the cost and impact of packages of evidenced-based interventions to save newborn lives, particularly in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where most of the world's 4 million newborn deaths occur. METHODS: We estimated the newborn deaths that could be averted by scaling up 16 interventions in 60 countries. We bundled the interventions in a variety of existing ma…
Global, regional, and national causes of child mortality in 2008
Countdown to 2015 decade report (2000–10)
Global, regional, and national causes of child mortality
National, regional, and worldwide estimates of preterm birth rates in the year 2010 with time trends since 1990 for selected countries
Health in South Africa
Setting research priorities to reduce global mortality from preterm birth and low birth weight by 2015
Neonatal survival interventions in humanitarian emergencies
Neonatal care is provided by most of the responding humanitarian organizations; however, the quality, breadth and consistency of this care are limited
Newborn survival in Malawi
Malawi is one of two low-income sub-Saharan African countries on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG 4) for child survival despite high fertility and HIV and low health worker density. With neonatal deaths becoming an increasing proportion of under-five deaths, addressing newborn survival is critical for achieving MDG 4. We examine change for newborn survival in the decade 2000–10, analysing mortality and coverage indicators whilst…
Newborn survival
Neonatal deaths account for 40% of global under-five mortality and are ever more important if we are to achieve the Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG 4) on child survival. We applied a results framework to evaluate global and national changes for neonatal mortality rates (NMR), healthy behaviours, intervention coverage, health system change, and inputs including funding, while considering contextual changes. The average annual rate of reduction …
Newborn survival
The first month of a baby’s life is surrounded by emotion and new experiences. The mother and father are learning how to be parents, interpreting and responding to the myriad of different cries, sounds and movements. Parents everywhere are concerned that their new baby is warm, safe and feeds well. The first month is one of soaring hopes and possibilities. Yet that month, and especially the birth and first few days after, carries the highest risk…
Newborn survival in Uganda
Each year in Uganda 141 000 children die before reaching their fifth birthday; 26% of these children die in their first month of life. In a setting of persistently high fertility rates, a crisis in human resources for health and a recent history of civil unrest, Uganda has prioritized Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 for child and maternal survival. As part of a multi-country analysis we examined change for newborn survival over the past deca…
Newborn survival in Pakistan
Pakistan has the world's third highest national number of newborn deaths (194 000 in 2010). Major national challenges over the past decade have affected health and development including several large humanitarian disasters, destabilizing political insurgency, high levels of poverty and an often hard-to-reach predominately rural population with diverse practices. As part of a multi-country analysis, we examined changes for newborn survival between…
Benchmarks to measure readiness to integrate and scale up newborn survival interventions
Neonatal mortality accounts for 40% of under-five child mortality. Evidence-based interventions exist, but attention to implementation is recent. Nationally representative coverage data for these neonatal interventions are limited; therefore proximal measures of progress toward scale would be valuable for tracking change among countries and over time. We describe the process of selecting a set of benchmarks to assess scale up readiness or the deg…
Mortality risk in preterm and small-for-gestational-age infants in low-income and middle-income countries
Born Too Soon
This second paper in the Born Too Soon supplement presents a review of the epidemiology of preterm birth, and its burden globally, including priorities for action to improve the data. Worldwide an estimated 11.1% of all livebirths in 2010 were born preterm (14.9 million babies born before 37 weeks of gestation), with preterm birth rates increasing in most countries with reliable trend data. Direct complications of preterm birth account for one mi…
Newborn survival
Health Policy & Planning volume 27 supplement 3: A decade of change for newborn survival, policy and programmes (2000–2010), July 2012 pp. iii6–iii28 doi:10.1093/heapol/czs053 This article contained errors on p. 8, para 1 and in Table 3. The health density figures should refer to the number of midwives, nurses and physicians per 100 000, not per 10 000. The sentence on p. 8 should read: The density of midwives and nurses is over 30-fold higher in…
Can available interventions end preventable deaths in mothers, newborn babies, and stillbirths, and at what cost?
Every Newborn
Neonatal survival in complex humanitarian emergencies
In this study, a diverse group of experts used the CHRNI methodology to systematically identify and determine research priorities for neonatal health and survival in complex humanitarian emergencies. The priorities included the need to better understand the magnitude of the disease burden and interventions to improve neonatal health in complex humanitarian emergencies. The findings from this study will provide guidance to researchers and program …
Medicine (74 works) · Global Maternal and Child Health (71 works) · Environmental health (54 works) · Population (39 works) · Child Nutrition and Water Access (37 works) · Economic growth (37 works) · Nursing (32 works) · Health care (30 works) · Economics (26 works) · Psychological intervention (25 works)