Category: Madeleine

Hello again! It’s Maddie Metz, an MPH candidate in the Global Health concentration, with a practicum update!

I’m currently wrapping up my part of the project to publish the results of Dr. Adeyemi Olufolabi’s study on the impact of maternal mortality on male partners and their children. Dr. Olufolabi interviewed family members and male partners of women who died in childbirth in Rwanda.

As we got further into the analysis of the interviews, our project’s focus shifted to this loss’s long-term financial ramifications, the coping mechanisms utilized by spouses and family members, the larger effect on surviving children, the connection between gender roles and care-taking, and the perception of the medical establishment for future care. These topics are much more targeted than our initial broad questions as our study design relied on following the data that arose in semi-structured interviews instead of analyzing the answers to identical pre-specified questions.

One of the exciting parts of qualitative analysis is the unexpected directions the data can travel. Quantitative analysis is numerically-driven and is excellent for determining trends, correlations, and the “what” part of research. Qualitative analysis gets at the “why” questions, and provides a more open-ended forum to listen to the people behind the numerical conclusions.

Madeleine

Hello all! I’m Madeleine Metz, a current MPH candidate in the Global Health concentration. This summer, I am working with Dr. Adeyemi Olufolabi to publish the results of his study on the impact of maternal mortality on male partners and their children. Dr. Olufolabi interviewed men whose partners died in childbirth in Rwanda, and I’m currently analyzing the interviews for themes on the emotional, social, psychological, and financial effects of this loss on male partners and children who have been left behind. Later this summer, I will write a draft article for eventual publication.

Losing a mother during childbirth is devastating, and while there has been global progress in reducing maternal mortality, there is still an unacceptable loss of pregnant women who die during childbirth. There are no previous studies on male responses to the death of their female spouse or partner in childbirth, so this research will cover a new perspective.

At this stage of the project, I’m looking at recurring themes that appear across interviews. This is a word cloud, and it provides a visualization of the subjects that came up most frequently.

I’m a relative newcomer to public health, as I have a BS in biology and classics from Emory University and an MSc in osteoarchaeology (the archaeology of bones) from the University of Sheffield in the UK. I was drawn to public health because it’s inherently interdisciplinary, and I’m able to apply my background in science and cultural analysis towards solutions for current health issues.

Other facts about me: I like birds too much; I believe that science belongs to everyone, and taught a traveling middle school class called “What Did I Just Step On? An Introduction to Invertebrate Zoology” with a box of slugs and beetles and millipedes who could handle being lightly mauled by sixth graders; I had a wildly unsuccessful small business selling tie dye; I was/am hated with an undying passion by a Wreathed Hornbill when I worked at Zoo Atlanta; I make a mean soufflé.

I’m excited to be part of this research project, but it can be difficult to work on because these men, their partners, and their families have suffered so much. I’m building in breaks when I can chase bugs or do some tie dye, and they help me stay grounded so I can fully engage with this project.

I’ll let you know how things have gone later this summer!

-Madeleine