Sarrah Shahawy, MD MPH

Dr. Sarrah Shahawy is an obstetrician-gynecologist clinician, researcher, and educator at Harvard Medical School and BIDMC. She is the Director and Principal Investigator of the Muslim Reproductive and Global Health Engagement Research Lab (MeRGE).

She holds a Medical Degree from Harvard Medical School and a Master of Public Health in Clinical Effectiveness from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. After her OBGYN residency at Northwestern University, she completed a Global OBGYN fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Her research expertise is at the intersection of religion, health, and socio-political context with a focus on Muslim reproductive health (both in Muslim-majority and diaspora contexts), global health in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and immigrant/refugee health. In the US, her research is focused on developing generalizable lessons for health systems and reproductive health providers on how to shape inquiries about patients’ religious/spiritual practices and identities and how to respectfully incorporate this aspect of patients’ values into health communications, shared decision-making, and treatment recommendations to enhance individualized patient care. Internationally, her research has included the driving factors of the high national cesarean section rate in Egypt, the challenges accessing healthcare and family planning services for Palestinian women, and the effect of female genital cutting on women in the diaspora. She has led medical trainings worldwide, including on point of care ultrasound for front-line providers caring for Venezuelan refugees, operative vaginal delivery in Egypt as part of a multi-pronged effort to reduce cesarean section rates, and gynecologic surgery in Gaza.

SELECT PUBLICATIONS

Shahawy S, Raya L, Al Kassab L. Caring for Muslim Patients: A Primer for the Obstetrician Gynecologist. Obstet Gynecol Clin North Am. 2024 Mar; 51(1):57-67. PMID: 38267131.

Lagon EP, Mauney L, Onwuzurike C, Shahawy S, Schaefer K, Starosta A, Ye S, Bartz D, Schantz-Dunn J. An assessment of postpartum contraception rates with evolving care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sex Reprod Healthc. 2023 Jun; 36:100844. PMID: 37031561; PMCID: PMC10077763.

Shahawy S, Al Kassab L, Rattani A. Ramadan fasting and pregnancy: an evidence-based guide for the obstetrician. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2023 06; 228(6):689-695. PMID: 36940770.

Shahawy S, Onwuzurike C, Premkumar A, Henricks AA, Simon MA. Perspectives of women of refugee background on healthcare needs in a major urban metropolitan community in the US: A qualitative needs assessment. Health Soc Care Community. 2022 11; 30(6):e5637-e5646. PMID: 36111793; PMCID: PMC10286114.