Reproductive health

According to WHO, the concept includes a satisfying and safe sex life with access to good contraception, the ability to reproduce, and good care during pregnancy and childbirth. More broadly, however, the concept includes women’s health before, during, and after the reproductive period in their lives.

In an international comparison, reproductive health is considered to be good in Sweden, as poverty, social injustice and discrimination against women - which are relatively uncommon in Sweden - exert great influence on women’s health and their ability to become pregnant, give birth to, and care for their children.

Current problems for research around reproductive health at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health are:

- Basic knowledge on the biology of reproduction, including physiology , genetics, and immunology.
- Infertility and assisted fertilization
- The effect of sex hormones on physiological and immunological processes
- Normal weightgain during pregnancy as well as the consequences of obesity during pregnancy and child birth
- Mental problems/illnesses during pregnancy and in connection with childbirth
- How can the premature birth be avoided respectively treated?
- Violence against women
- Sexually transmitted diseases among youth, sexual afflictions
- The older woman’s gynaecological illnesses
- Information about, and alternative treatments for, menopausal symptoms

Areas of Research

•  Gender and medicine
•  Childbirth science and gynaecology
•  Neonatology - care for newborns