Professor Tina Lavender

Biography

Dame Tina Lavender is Professor of Maternal and Newborn health and Director of the Centre for Childbirth, Women’s and Newborn Health. As a registered midwife, Dame Tina has spent much of her career developing midwifery research capacity globally, and working with the Lugina Africa Midwives Research Network to improve evidence-based practices. She leads a programme of applied health research focusing on improving outcomes and experiences.

Dame Tina is a Visiting Professor at the University of Nairobi and has an honorary contract at the Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust. Over the last decade she has been conducting research related to stillbirth and is Director of the National Institute for Health and Care Research Global Health Research Unit on the Prevention and Management of Stillbirth and Neonatal Death, working in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

 

Dame tina is Associate Editor and co-founder of the African Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health. She has played an active role in promoting improved educational midwifery standards, through innovative projects and academic roles. She also acts as a regular Advisor to the World Health Organisation, particularly related to research, education and guideline development.

 

Achievements include being nominated as one of BBC’s 100 most inspirational women in the world. Dame Tina was also made a Senior National Institute for Health and Care Research Investigator in 2018.

Research interests

Dame Tina is interested in all research that has the potential to improve maternal and newborn outcomes, including experiences. She currently has two main programmes of work: Stillbirth and neonatal death and newborn skin care.

Dame Tina is Director of the National Institute for Health and Care Research Global Health Research Unit on the Prevention and Management of Stillbirth and Neonatal Death in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. This research brings together leading researchers, with expertise in stillbirth prevention and bereavement care to tackle three areas of care in eight countries (Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, India and Pakistan)

Dame Tina is also conducting parallel work on newborn skin care and is leading a National Institute for Health and Care Research Global Health Research Group on Newborn Skin Barrier Dysfunction and Infection, in Tanzania and Kenya

This aims to build on multidisciplinary expertise to establish a research group to generate new scientific knowledge and understanding of skin barrier development and the optimisation of skin barrier function to prevent adverse outcomes of sepsis and atopic dermatitis. This programme will increase contextual understanding of newborn skin, advance research methodology, strengthen clinical and research capacity, and inform skin care practice.

Teaching

Dame Tina teaches postgraduate students on topics related to maternal and newborn health, such as respectful care, stillbirth and obstetric fistula. She supervises UK and overseas PhD students, in topics related to her research programmes and has supported >20 to completion. She supports early career researchers to develop their skills and advance as independent researchers and is also a National Institute for Health and Care Research mentor. 

Selected research publications

Exploring parental knowledge, care-seeking, and support strategies for neonatal illness: an integrative review of the African Great Lakes region. – Journal: Global Health Action – Published: 1st December 2025

Is colloidal oat an effective emollient ingredient for the prevention and treatment of atopic dermatitis in infants? – Journal: Journal of Dermatological Treatment – Published: 1st December 2025

The maternity care experiences of women living in a diverse UK urban city: a survey study – Journal: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth – Published: 10th July 2025

Informing Decision-Making About Caesarean Birth: A Delphi Study to Develop a Core Information Set – Journal: BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology – Published: 8th July 2025

Carboprost versus Oxytocin as the first-line treatment of primary postpartum haemorrhage (COPE) protocol for a phase IV, double-blind, double-dummy, randomised controlled trial and economic analysis – Journal: BMJ Open – Published: 8th May 2025

View more publications