Ochuwa Babah
PhD Student
I am a doctoral student at the Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet (KI), Sweden. I have as my Supervisors, Elin Larsson and Claudia Hanson, both in same department at KI.
Research description
Iron deficiency anaemia in pregnancy: Evaluation of the effectiveness and safety of intravenous ferric carboxymaltose and oral ferrous sulphate in a low-middle income country Iron deficiency is the commonest cause of anaemia in pregnancy and a leading cause of maternal death in sub-Saharan Africa where maternal mortality is high. Though a popular subject, iron deficiency needs further research as most risks factors are not fully evaluated especially the impact of diet, we also do not have objective information regarding the diagnosis and treatment of iron deficiency anaemia among maternal health workers in sub-Saharan Africa. There is inequity in distribution of newer drugs such as ferric carboxymaltose for iron deficiency anaemia treatment. We belief, the global inequalities in health as it relates to the high prevalence and high mortality rates in Sub-Saharan Africa may be related to some of these factors which we sought out to evaluate by conducting two studies - a cross-sectional survey on maternal health workers in Nigeria; and a randomzed control clinical trial, IVON trial comparing effectiveness and safety of single dose intravenous ferric carboxymaltose and oral ferrous sulphate for iron deficiency treatment in pregnant Nigerian women. Selected publication Afolabi BB, Babah OA, Akinajo OR, Adaramoye VO, Adeyemo TA, Balogun M, et al. Intravenous versus oral iron for iron deficiency anaemia in pregnant Nigerian women (IVON): study protocol for a randomized hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial. Trials. 2022;23(1):763.
Teaching portfolio
Currently, I am actively involved in training of medical students, medical interns, and resident doctors in Obstetrics and Gynaecology as part of my job. I also supervise resident doctors' research work and dissertation for fellowship examinations in West African College of Surgeons (WACS) and National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria (NPMCN). I hope to start teaching Masters students at Karolinska Institutet soon as part of my doctoral training.