About Us

"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. The Sanyu Research Unit aims to find low-cost, sustainable ways to prevent these needless deaths.

Sanyu team members and healthcare professionals in Uganda
Sanyu Research Unit Team meeting

“Based at the University of Liverpool’s Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, and with a sister site (SAfRI) in Mbale, Uganda, we are dedicated to improving maternity care worldwide.

“We aim to generate sustainable improvements in maternal and infant health, developing and evaluating low-cost technologies for clinical care that will have a direct impact on mothers all over the globe. We are currently involved in trials in the UK, Uganda and India, all of which could help to save the lives of thousands of mothers and their babies. You can see more details about these on the Our Projects pages.

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

“We are always keen to hear from those who would like to find out more about our work or get involved in our trials. You can read more about our projects by using the menu below or you can contact us.”

Andrew Weeks, Director, Sanyu Research Unit