Sanyu Research Unit

Every day, around 800 women will die from pregnancy or childbirth-related complications. Most of these cases will occur in a low resource setting and could easily have been prevented with access to the right medical care.

The Sanyu Research Unit, based at the University’s Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, is dedicated to improving maternity care worldwide, particularly in poorer settings.

Led by Professor Andrew Weeks, the unit aims to generate sustainable improvements in maternal and infant health. Their goal is to develop and evaluate low cost technologies for clinical care that will have a direct impact on mothers all over the world.

The Department of Women's and Children's Health and the Sanyu Unit are a World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Research and Research Synthesis in Reproductive Health

Edith Sanyu was a woman who died from obstructed labour in Uganda at the time that this unit was founded. Although not well known herself, she represents the many voiceless who suffer daily through lack of resources for maternal and child health.

The word sanyu also means joy in the Bantu languages.

Sanyu team meeting discussing the postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) butterfly.

Left to right: Dot Lambert, Sanyu Research Manager; Caroline Cunningham, Research Midwife; Andrew Weeks, Director; Achier Akol, PhD Student

News

£5.2 m study launched to help prevent newborn infections in Uganda. Read more.

Current Studies

COPE Study	COPE Study - £1.8m for major new study into bleeding after childbirth
Post-Partum Haemorrhage (PPH) Butterfly	A development study funded by the NiHR Invention for Innovation (i4i) programme. Sponsored by University of Liverpool Principal Objective: To recruit up to 10 healthy volunteers (who have just given birth) in order to test the usability/suitability of a novel medical device. Developed by the Chief Investigator (Weeks) this novel medical device may significantly contribute towards an acceptable solution for management of PPH. .
Misoprostol or Oxytocin for Labour Induction (MOLI) Study	The University of Liverpool in the UK will work with Gynuity Health Projects (www.gynuity.org) in New York, USA and the Government Medical College in Nagpur to run the MOLI study in three sites in Nagpur, India. The study seeks to explore whether augmentation using oral misoprostol is superior to the standard protocol of intravenous oxytocin in Indian women who have undergone cervical preparation with oral misoprostol as part of labour induction for hypertensive disease. The primary outcome is the rate of caesarean birth, but the study will also consider satisfaction and cost. The study seeks to recruit 1000 women across the three sites.
PPH Definitions	A study being undertaken by Professor Andrew and Dr. Robbie Kerr. Coordinating an international group of experts, as part of a WHO/Brighton Colloboration, to develop a consensus on the definition of postpartum haemorrhage. The project aims to standardize the definition of post-partum haemorrhage for monitoring the safety of immunisation in pregnancy.

Completed Studies

INFORM study	Researchers from the University with colleagues from Gynuity Health Care in New York and the Government Medial College, Nagpur, India, have published a major study of two different types of labour induction methods in The Lancet. Principal objective: Between 62 000 and 77 000 women die annually from pre-eclampsia and eclampsia. Prompt delivery, preferably by the vaginal route, is vital for good maternal and neonatal outcomes. Two low-cost interventions—low-dose oral misoprostol tablets and transcervical Foley catheterisation—are already used in low-resource settings. We aimed to compare the relative risks and benefits of these interventions.
AIMS study	Effectiveness of antibiotic prophylaxis during surgical evacuation of the uterus for miscarriage management in low income countries: a multinational, randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled trial (Aims Study) Funded by the MRC, Sponsored by the University of Birmingham, this multi-centre study is run across sites in low resources settings including Mbale, Uganda, through the Sanyu Africa Research Institute (SAfRI) Principal Objective: To test the hypothesis that in women having miscarriage surgery, pre-surgery prophylactic antibiotics (oral doxycycline 400mg and oral metronidazole 400mg) reduces the risk of pelvic infection within 14 days of surgery.
Babygel study (Pilot)	Funded by the MRC Sponsored by the University of Liverpool run through SAfRI, Mbale, Uganda. Pilot study of a cluster randomised trial of the provision of alcohol hand gel to postpartum mothers to prevent neonatal infective morbidity in the home.
FIGO/Wellbeing for Woman Fellowship	A three year funded project to support research capacity and capability building. The Fellowship is supporting Professor Julius Wandabwa, Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Busitema University, Uganda to undertake a period of research training at the University of Liverpool and other local partner organisations.

PhD Students

Dr. Achier Akol	“Retrospective Cohort Study of Liverpool women to Explore factors and outcomes associated with various forms of retained placenta from 2009 to 2014” “A prospective study of the diagnostic role of ultrasound amongst women with retained placentas“
Dr. Abiola Aiyenigba	“The Management of Psychological Morbidities associated with Infertility within African populations. This includes the development of a CBT based counselling intervention called FELICIA (FErtility LIfe Counselling In Africa.)”
Dr. Teesta Dey
Dr. Kate Lightly

For many years, women and children in low resource settings have faced enormous risks both during and immediately after childbirth. Many have died unnecessarily. Thankfully, the numbers of deaths of mothers in pregnancy has nearly halved in the last 25 years- but a woman still dies in pregnancy somewhere in the world every two minutes. We aim to find low cost ways to prevent these needless deaths.

Professor Andrew Weeks