Research consortium to tackle inequalities in maternity outcomes
A professor at our Women’s Hospital is working on research in order to help tackle inequalities in maternity outcomes.
Through her work with the University of Birmingham, Dr Victoria Hodgetts Morton, Associate Professor of Obstetrics, will be the university’s co-lead on the new NIHR Challenge Maternity Disparities Consortium. The research carried out by the consortium will focus on inequalities before, during and after pregnancy.
Nine universities were selected by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to focus on building capacity for further research and to improve services.
Dr Hodgetts Morton said: “I am delighted to be part of this consortium that we hope can make a huge difference to the outcomes of women and their babies. We hope that this can improve the services our women currently receive, but also give us a chance to keep on driving improvements in the future.”
The consortium members span most regions of the UK, and the next step is to build further collaborations before research projects begin in early 2025. £50 million of funding will go between the successful institutions, and there will be collaboration between local councils, charities, the science industry and NHS Trusts.
Alongside the University of Birmingham, the other successful universities were:
- University of Aberdeen (collaborating with Cardiff University)
- University of Bedfordshire
- Queen’s University Belfast
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- University of Manchester
- Newcastle University
- Sheffield Hallam University
- University of Southampton
You can find out more about this research consortium on the NIHR website.