Katherine Eddy

Thesis title

Preventing pre-eclampsia: exploring economic and implementation barriers to effective maternity care

Description of PhD Project

Pre-eclampsia and eclampsia are the second leading direct cause of global maternal mortality, and disproportionately affect women in lower income countries. Taking regular low-dose aspirin can prevent pre-eclampsia in women who are at higher risk. However, identifying these women can be costly and difficult, and attitudes toward use of prophylactic aspirin in pregnancy are not fully understood.

This PhD will use a mixed methods approach combining primary qualitative research, evidence synthesis, economic evaluation, and implementation science techniques to explore factors affecting use of screening and aspirin in lower resource settings. Examining patient and provider perspectives will enable a deeper understanding of current barriers, and together with estimates of economic costs and benefits will support the development of implementation strategies to ensure this life-saving intervention is available for women who need it.

Supervisors

Associate Professor Meghan Bohren

Associate Professor Nick Scott

Biography

Katherine is a Research Officer in the Global Women's and Newborn's Health group at Burnet Institute. Her research focuses on identifying, understanding, and eliminating barriers to ensure women everywhere can access respectful and life-saving maternal health care.

Katherine completed her Master of Public Health (MPH) at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health specialising in health economics and gender and women's health. Her research thesis titled "Factors affecting use of magnesium sulphate for pre-eclampsia or eclampsia: a qualitative evidence synthesis" was published in BJOG in 2021. Since then she has led cost-effectiveness analysis, mixed methods and qualitative evidence synthesis, and a large scoping review of economic evaluations in maternal health.

She has Bachelor degrees in economics and history, and nine years professional experience as an economist at Australia’s national competition and consumer protection agency prior to her career shift to public health.