Research

At the NPSU, our staff are a group of dedicated researchers whose major strengths are in the areas of perinatal and reproductive health. Our aim is to conduct research which will provide information to improve the health of babies and mothers and promote the effective use of resources in the perinatal health services.

The Unit has a cross-disciplinary approach to research. In recent years it has established successful collaborations with external organisations, universities and researchers leading to the development of many integrated and collaborative research studies.

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Current research programs/projects

NH&MRC funded projects

• The Australian Maternity Outcomes Surveillance System: Improving safety and quality of maternity care in Australia. Commenced in 2008
• Investigating the association between incarceration while pregnant and maternal and infant outcomes. Commenced in 2007 (joint project with MAGIC)

NPSU is also a partner (chief investigator) on two 5 year NH&MRC grants:

• NH&MRC Capacity Building Grants in Population Health Research HERON. Commenced in 2004
• NH&MRC Enabling Grant - A collaborative network for child health research. Commenced in 2006 (collaboration with APSU)

Other research projects

• Women's role in decision making around Caesarean section
• Comparison of the sex ratio in babies born after standard IVF and ICSI in Australia and New Zealand 2002-2004 (2007)
• Smoking in pregnancy - a national data development project
• Newborn screening
• Age specified success rate for women undertaking assisted reproductive technology treatment using their own oocytes in Australia 2002-2004
• Sex ratio of babies born following assisted reproductive technology treatment in Australia and New Zealand
• The economic impact of multiple gestation pregnancies resulting from Assisted Reproductive Technology - A cost analysis of maternal and infant inpatient admissions following Assisted Reproductive Technology treatment (collaboration with School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW)
• Amniotic Fluid Embolism in Australia 1994-2002 (collaboration with the King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women, Perth WA)
• Indigenous mothers and babies, Australia 2001-2004 (in conjunction with ATSIHWU at the AIHW)
• Perinatal National Minimum Data Set compliance evaluation 2001 to 2005
• Analysis of data on embryo transfer, storage and other utilisation from IVFAustralia North Shore and IVFAustralia Western Sydney, 2000 and 2004 (collaboration with IVFAustralia, Sydney NSW)
• Are very premature non-tertiary hospital births and NICU outborn outcomes changing in Australia? (collaboration with Department of Newborn Care, Royal Hospital for Women, UNSW)
• A cost-effectiveness analysis of stimulated intrauterine insemination (SIUI) and in vitro fertilisation as first line treatment for infertility (collaboration with School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW)
• Maternal deaths in New South Wales 1994-2002 - Data Linkage project (collaboration with NSW Health Department)

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Current studies

Postgraduate studies

• Australian Birth Centre Study (PhD)
• Determinants of sex ratios in Australia (PhD)
• Epidemiology of caesarean section in Australia (PhD)
• Economic evaluation of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (PhD, NH&MRC scholarship)
• Prevalence of STI & HIV among young women boarding Korean fishing boats in Kiribati (MMed Sexual Health, collaboration with Sydney University)

Other study programs

• Safety of birth centre care: outcomes for mothers and their babies (UNSW Faculty of Medicine, Independent Learning Project)
• Teenage pregnancy in Australia 1995-2004 (UNSW Faculty of Medicine, Independent Learning Project)

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Recently completed projects

• A feasibility study on redeveloping the ANZARD collection to include data on cryo-preserved embryos and their fate. 2006 and 2007 (Funded by NHMRC Licensing Committee, completed in August 2007)
• Clinical pathways leading to Assisted Reproductive Technology treatment in Australia (2007, UNSW Faculty of Medicine, Independent Learning Project)
• How does the urban remote divide affect Indigenous perinatal outcomes? (2007, ANU Master of Applied Epidemiology)
• How well-informed are women prior to their Caesarean section? (2007, UNSW Faculty of Medicine, Independent Learning Project)
• Teenage smoking in pregnancy and birth outcomes (2007, UNSW Faculty of Medicine, Independent Learning Project)
• Pregnancy and baby outcomes of women aged 45 years and older in Australia 1991-2004 (2007, UNSW Faculty of Medicine, Independent Learning Project)
• The clinical effectiveness of in vitro fertilisation as a first line therapy treatment for idiopathic or mild male factor subfertility (2007, UNSW Faculty of Medicine, Independent Learning Project)
• An international comparison of Assisted Reproductive Technology treatment costs and cost-effectivenss ratios (2006)
• The cost effectiveness of Assisted Reproductive Technology in Australia (2006)
• The Caesarean pathway model: An across method investigation of Caesarean section delivery in Australia (2007, FRGB)
• Caesarean birth: consumption, safety, order, and choices? (2006, FRGB)

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Workshops

• National Maternal Deaths Workshop, University of New South Wales, May 2007
• Smoking in pregnancy data development workshop (1 day), UNSW, March 2007
• National Maternal Deaths Workshop (1 day), UNSW, December 2006.
• The Second Generation HIV surveillance Regional Workshop, Pacific Region (5 days), Nadi, Fiji 1st-5th August 2005.
• The Second Generation HIV surveillance Regional Workshop, Survey Period 2003-2005 (5 days), Pacific Region, Nadi, Fiji, May 2004.
• Healthy Aboriginal Mothers and Babies: Improving Indigenous Outcomes. The Perinatal Indigenous Network of PSANZ, Sydney Australia. March 2004.
• ANZARD update. Fertility Nurses Association Mid-Year Workshop, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. May 2004.

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