Birgitta Essén
Professor at Institutionen för kvinnors och barns hälsa; Internationell kvinno- och mödrahälsovård och migration
- Telephone:
- +46 18 611 59 88
- Mobile phone:
- +46 70 167 91 23
- E-mail:
- birgitta.essen@uu.se
- Visiting address:
- MTC-huset, Dag Hammarskjölds väg 14B, 1 tr
752 37 Uppsala - Postal address:
- Akademiska sjukhuset
751 85 UPPSALA
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Short presentation
Professor, MD,PhD
Biography
Research
The overall aim of my research is to investigate how maternal and perinatal morbidity is linked to socio-cultural factors. In order to develop tools for comprehensive reproductive health services to women in unprivileged situations, the current activities include analysis of sexual and reproductive ill-health in both low-income and high-income settings.
Further, a migration perspective is utilised to bridge these two settings together so that knowledge e.g. on maternal mortality in Africa can be used in a migration context in Sweden, and vice versa, knowledge from studies on immigrants in Sweden can be applied back to the more deprived areas of origin.
Several of my projects have been conducted in close collaboration with social anthropologist, Sara Johnsdotter, associate professor at Malmö University.
Publications
Selection of publications
- Is there a relation between stillbirth and low levels of vitamin D in the population? (2023)
- The relationship between dominant Western discourse and personal narratives of female genital cutting (2023)
- Prevalence of depression among students at a Sri Lankan University (2023)
- ‘I don’t know how we can stop ragging’ (2023)
- Group antenatal care (gANC) for Somali-speaking women in Sweden - a process evaluation (2022)
- The Liberal Social Values of Swedish Healthcare Providers in Women’s Healthcare: Implications for Clinical Encounters in a Diversified Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (2022)
- Healthcare providers' experiences of comprehensive emergency obstetric care in Somaliland (2022)
- Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Counselling in Relation to Female Genital Cutting (2022)
- The social values of newly arrived immigrants in Sweden (2022)
- "I Know Hyena. Do you Know Hyena?" Challenges in Interpreter-Mediated Dementia Assessment, Focusing on the Role of the Interpreter (2022)
- Ragging as an expression of power in a deeply divided society (2022)
- Ragging, a Form of University Violence in Sri Lanka-Prevalence, Self-Perceived Health Consequences, Help-Seeking Behavior and Associated Factors (2022)
- How to ensure policies and interventions rely on strong supporting facts to improve women's health (2021)
- Attitudes towards comparison of male and female genital cutting in a Swedish Somali population (2021)
- Deinfibulation Contextualized (2021)
- Understanding the needs and use of sexual and reproductive health services among Thai women (2021)
- One Genital, Two Judgments (2020)
- 11. Professionalism & practice (2020)
- Low use of vacuum extraction (2020)
- Implementing the liberalized abortion law in Kigali, Rwanda (2020)
- Antenatal care for Somali-born women in Sweden (2019)
- Factors associated with female genital cutting in Yemen and its policy implications (2019)
- Are 'low socioeconomic status' and 'religiousness' barriers to minority women's use of contraception? A qualitative exploration and critique of a common argument in reproductive health research (2019)
- Does Religious Counselling on Abortion Comply with Sweden’s ‘Women‑Friendly’ Abortion Policies? (2019)
- Being questioned as parents: (2019)
- Rationale, development and feasibility of group antenatal care for immigrant women in Sweden (2019)
- Contraceptive use among migrant, second-generation migrant and non-migrant women seeking abortion care (2019)
- Use of a criteria-based audit to optimize uptake of cesarean delivery in a low-resource setting (2019)
- Sexual health counselling targeting girls and young women with female genital cutting in Sweden (2019)
- Auditing the appropriateness of cesarean delivery using the Robson classification among women experiencing a maternal near miss (2019)
- From sameness to difference (2019)
- Shifting perceptions of female genital cutting in a Swedish migration context (2019)
- A missed opportunity? Lack of knowledge about sexual and reproductive health services among immigrant women in Sweden (2019)
- Unintended consequences of gender equality promotion in Swedish contraceptive counselling (2018)
- Is multiculturalism bad for swedish abortion care? (2018)
- Are 'Low Socioeconomic Status' and 'Religiousness' barriers to minority women's contraceptive use in Sweden and Denmark? (2018)
- Gauging the interests of birth mother and child (2018)
- Improving the health care of pregnant refugee and migrant women and newborn children. (2018)
- Contraceptive use among immigrant and non-immigrant women seeking abortion care in Stockholm County, Sweden (2018)
- Maternal near-miss and the risk of adverse perinatal outcomes (2018)
- Distant and proximate factors associated with maternal near-miss: (2018)
- Afghan mothers with near-miss morbidity face disparity in obstetric care at university hospitals in Tehran, Iran (2018)
- Interventions for good practice in maternity care for immigrant women - insights from the ROAM collaboration. ROAM (2018)
- Healthcare-seeking behaviour among Thai-born women in Sweden (2018)
- Thai immigrant women's healthcare use and needs in relation to sexual and reproductive health (2018)
- Clitoral Surgery After Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (2017)
- Unintended Consequences of Gender Equality Promotion in Swedish Multicultural Contraceptive Counseling (2017)
- Surrogate mother – praiseworthy or stigmatized (2017)
- ‘I have made children, so what's the problem?’ Retrospective self-circumcision and the sexual and urological health needs of some Somali men in Sweden (2017)
- "Men don't think that far" - Interviewing men in Sweden about chlamydia and HIV testing during pregnancy from a discursive masculinities construction perspective (2017)
- Is research data used in education for health professionals on management of Female Genital Cutting? (2017)
- FGM alerts and expert assessments from healthcare providers (2017)
- The increasing demand for reconstructive clitoral surgery among circumcised women living in Europe (2017)
- Maternal near-miss and death incidences - Frequencies, causes and the referral chain in Somaliland (2017)
- Incidence and causes of maternal near-miss in selected hospitals of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (2017)
- Experiences of inequitable care among Afghan mothers surviving near-miss morbidity in Tehran, Iran (2017)
- Afghan Migrants Face more Suboptimal Care than Natives (2017)
- Case review of perinatal deaths at hospitals in Kigali, Rwanda (2017)
- Negotiating Collective and Individual Agency (2017)
- Factors associated with the support of pricking (female genital cutting type IV) among Somali immigrants - a cross-sectional study in Sweden (2017)
- Factors associated with the support of pricking (female genital cutting type IV) among Somali immigrants – a cross-sectional study in Sweden (2017)
- Baseline data from a planned RCT on attitudes to female genital cutting after migration (2017)
- Healthcare-seeking behaviour in relation to sexual and reproductive health among Thai-born women in Sweden (2017)
- 'Moving on' Violence, wellbeing and questions about violence in antenatal care encounters. A qualitative study with Somali-born refugees in Sweden (2016)
- Suicides during pregnancy and one year postpartum in Sweden, 1980–2007 (2016)
- Migration – Impact on Reproductive Health Preface (2016)
- Preface (2016)
- Increased Risk of Mortality Due to Interpersonal Violence in Foreign-Born Women of Reproductive Age (2016)
- "Who Wants to Go Repeatedly to the Hospital?" (2016)
- Home use of misoprostol for early medical abortion in a low resource setting (2016)
- Cultural change after migration (2016)
- Equitable abortion care - A challenge for health care providers. Experiences from abortion care encounters with immigrant women in Stockholm, Sweden (2016)
- The effects of previous cesarean deliveries on severe maternal and adverse perinatal outcomes at a university hospital in Tanzania (2016)
- Criteria-based audit to improve quality of care of foetal distress (2016)
- Improving Standards of Care in Obstructed Labour (2016)
- Maternal near-miss at university hospitals with cesarean overuse (2016)
- Does mode of follow-up influence contraceptive use after medical abortion in a low-resource setting? Secondary outcome analysis of a non-inferiority randomized controlled trial (2016)
- Beyond the numbers of maternal near-miss in Rwanda - a qualitative study on women's perspectives on access and experiences of care in early and late stage of pregnancy (2016)
- 'You try to play a role in her pregnancy' - a qualitative study on recent fathers' perspectives about childbearing and encounter with the maternal health system in Kigali, Rwanda (2016)
- Medical students are afraid to include abortion in their future practices (2016)
- Knowledge and utilization of sexual and reproductive healthcare services among Thai immigrant women in Sweden (2016)
- Views of Swedish commissioning parents relating to the exploitation discourse in using transnational surrogacy (2015)
- Being a bridge (2015)
- Transnational surrogacy (2015)
- Healing the health system after civil unrest (2015)
- Self-assessment of the outcome of early medical abortion versus clinic follow-up in India (2015)
- Culture and sexual scripts in and out of Africa (2015)
- Culture and sexual scripts in and out of Africa (2015)
- ‘Disrespectful men, disrespectable women’ (2015)
- Preterm and postterm birth in immigrant- and Swedish-born parents (2015)
- "What about the mother?" (2015)
- Fear, Blame And Transparency (2015)
- Trends and social differentials in child mortality inRwanda 1990–2010 (2015)
- Social equity in perinatal survival (2015)
- The importance of considering the evidence in the MTP 2014 Amendment debate in India (2015)
- Acceptability of Home-Assessment PostMedical Abortion and Medical Abortion in aLow-Resource Setting in Rajasthan, India (2015)
- 'They would never receive you without a husband' (2015)
- Severe maternal morbidity associated with maternal birthplace in three high-immigration settings (2015)
- Anthropometric measures in relation to risk of heart failure hospitalization (2014)
- Violence and reproductive health preceding flight from war (2014)
- Reproductive and maternity health care services in Finland (2014)
- Suboptimal care and maternal mortality among foreign-born women in Sweden (2014)
- Intimate partner violence and poor mental health among Thai women residing in Sweden (2014)
- Development of the Migrant Friendly Maternity Care Questionnaire (MFMCQ) for migrants to Western societies (2014)
- Negotiating Respectability (2014)
- Maternal near-miss and death and their association with caesarean section complications (2014)
- Simplified follow-up after medical abortion using a low-sensitivity urinary pregnancy test and a pictorial instruction sheet in Rajasthan, India (2014)
- Medical students' attitudes and perceptions on abortion (2014)
- Causes of death among undocumented migrants in Sweden, 1997-2010 (2014)
- More than re-establishing the partner relationship (2013)
- 'Let men into the pregnancy' (2013)
- Psychological Violence Experienced by Men Who Have Sex With Men in Puducherry, India (2013)
- Excess mortality in women of reproductive age from low-income countries (2013)
- Maternal mortality in Sweden 1988-2007 (2013)
- Navigating Between Control and Autonomy (2013)
- Medical students' knowledge, attitudes and perceptions towards contraceptive use and counselling (2013)
- Increasing caesarean section rates among low-risk groups (2013)
- Evaluating helping babies breathe (2013)
- Female genital mutilation, cutting, or circumcision. (2013)
- Measuring HIV- and AIDS-related stigma and discrimination in Nicaragua (2013)
- Assessing knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to HIV and AIDS in Nicaragua (2013)
- Increased risk of severe maternal morbidity (near-miss) among immigrant women in Sweden (2013)
- Seven things to know about female genital surgeries in Africa (2012)
- Shared Language Is Essential (2012)
- Conceptualising the prevention of adverse obstetric outcomes among immigrants using the 'three delays' framework in a high-income context (2012)
- Immigrant status and increased risk of heart failure (2012)
Recent publications
- Perceived Religious Discrimination in Healthcare (2024)
- Group antenatal care compared with standard antenatal care for Somali-Swedish women (2023)
- Comment on (2023)
- Paradoxes in the cultural doula concept for migrant women (2023)
- Is there a relation between stillbirth and low levels of vitamin D in the population? (2023)
All publications
Articles
- Group antenatal care compared with standard antenatal care for Somali-Swedish women (2023)
- Comment on (2023)
- Paradoxes in the cultural doula concept for migrant women (2023)
- Is there a relation between stillbirth and low levels of vitamin D in the population? (2023)
- The relationship between dominant Western discourse and personal narratives of female genital cutting (2023)
- Prevalence of depression among students at a Sri Lankan University (2023)
- ‘I don’t know how we can stop ragging’ (2023)
- Group antenatal care (gANC) for Somali-speaking women in Sweden - a process evaluation (2022)
- The Liberal Social Values of Swedish Healthcare Providers in Women’s Healthcare: Implications for Clinical Encounters in a Diversified Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (2022)
- Healthcare providers' experiences of comprehensive emergency obstetric care in Somaliland (2022)
- Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Counselling in Relation to Female Genital Cutting (2022)
- The social values of newly arrived immigrants in Sweden (2022)
- "I Know Hyena. Do you Know Hyena?" Challenges in Interpreter-Mediated Dementia Assessment, Focusing on the Role of the Interpreter (2022)
- Ragging as an expression of power in a deeply divided society (2022)
- Ragging, a Form of University Violence in Sri Lanka-Prevalence, Self-Perceived Health Consequences, Help-Seeking Behavior and Associated Factors (2022)
- How to ensure policies and interventions rely on strong supporting facts to improve women's health (2021)
- Attitudes towards comparison of male and female genital cutting in a Swedish Somali population (2021)
- Deinfibulation Contextualized (2021)
- Understanding the needs and use of sexual and reproductive health services among Thai women (2021)
- 11. Professionalism & practice (2020)
- Low use of vacuum extraction (2020)
- Implementing the liberalized abortion law in Kigali, Rwanda (2020)
- Antenatal care for Somali-born women in Sweden (2019)
- Factors associated with female genital cutting in Yemen and its policy implications (2019)
- Are 'low socioeconomic status' and 'religiousness' barriers to minority women's use of contraception? A qualitative exploration and critique of a common argument in reproductive health research (2019)
- Does Religious Counselling on Abortion Comply with Sweden’s ‘Women‑Friendly’ Abortion Policies? (2019)
- Being questioned as parents: (2019)
- Rationale, development and feasibility of group antenatal care for immigrant women in Sweden (2019)
- Contraceptive use among migrant, second-generation migrant and non-migrant women seeking abortion care (2019)
- Use of a criteria-based audit to optimize uptake of cesarean delivery in a low-resource setting (2019)
- Sexual health counselling targeting girls and young women with female genital cutting in Sweden (2019)
- Auditing the appropriateness of cesarean delivery using the Robson classification among women experiencing a maternal near miss (2019)
- From sameness to difference (2019)
- Shifting perceptions of female genital cutting in a Swedish migration context (2019)
- A missed opportunity? Lack of knowledge about sexual and reproductive health services among immigrant women in Sweden (2019)
- Unintended consequences of gender equality promotion in Swedish contraceptive counselling (2018)
- Is multiculturalism bad for swedish abortion care? (2018)
- Are 'Low Socioeconomic Status' and 'Religiousness' barriers to minority women's contraceptive use in Sweden and Denmark? (2018)
- Gauging the interests of birth mother and child (2018)
- Contraceptive use among immigrant and non-immigrant women seeking abortion care in Stockholm County, Sweden (2018)
- Maternal near-miss and the risk of adverse perinatal outcomes (2018)
- Distant and proximate factors associated with maternal near-miss: (2018)
- Afghan mothers with near-miss morbidity face disparity in obstetric care at university hospitals in Tehran, Iran (2018)
- Interventions for good practice in maternity care for immigrant women - insights from the ROAM collaboration. ROAM (2018)
- Healthcare-seeking behaviour among Thai-born women in Sweden (2018)
- Thai immigrant women's healthcare use and needs in relation to sexual and reproductive health (2018)
- Clitoral Surgery After Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (2017)
- Unintended Consequences of Gender Equality Promotion in Swedish Multicultural Contraceptive Counseling (2017)
- Surrogate mother – praiseworthy or stigmatized (2017)
- ‘I have made children, so what's the problem?’ Retrospective self-circumcision and the sexual and urological health needs of some Somali men in Sweden (2017)
- "Men don't think that far" - Interviewing men in Sweden about chlamydia and HIV testing during pregnancy from a discursive masculinities construction perspective (2017)
- Is research data used in education for health professionals on management of Female Genital Cutting? (2017)
- FGM alerts and expert assessments from healthcare providers (2017)
- The increasing demand for reconstructive clitoral surgery among circumcised women living in Europe (2017)
- Maternal near-miss and death incidences - Frequencies, causes and the referral chain in Somaliland (2017)
- Incidence and causes of maternal near-miss in selected hospitals of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (2017)
- Experiences of inequitable care among Afghan mothers surviving near-miss morbidity in Tehran, Iran (2017)
- Afghan Migrants Face more Suboptimal Care than Natives (2017)
- Case review of perinatal deaths at hospitals in Kigali, Rwanda (2017)
- Negotiating Collective and Individual Agency (2017)
- Factors associated with the support of pricking (female genital cutting type IV) among Somali immigrants - a cross-sectional study in Sweden (2017)
- Factors associated with the support of pricking (female genital cutting type IV) among Somali immigrants – a cross-sectional study in Sweden (2017)
- Baseline data from a planned RCT on attitudes to female genital cutting after migration (2017)
- Healthcare-seeking behaviour in relation to sexual and reproductive health among Thai-born women in Sweden (2017)
- 'Moving on' Violence, wellbeing and questions about violence in antenatal care encounters. A qualitative study with Somali-born refugees in Sweden (2016)
- Suicides during pregnancy and one year postpartum in Sweden, 1980–2007 (2016)
- Migration – Impact on Reproductive Health Preface (2016)
- Preface (2016)
- Increased Risk of Mortality Due to Interpersonal Violence in Foreign-Born Women of Reproductive Age (2016)
- "Who Wants to Go Repeatedly to the Hospital?" (2016)
- Home use of misoprostol for early medical abortion in a low resource setting (2016)
- Cultural change after migration (2016)
- Equitable abortion care - A challenge for health care providers. Experiences from abortion care encounters with immigrant women in Stockholm, Sweden (2016)
- The effects of previous cesarean deliveries on severe maternal and adverse perinatal outcomes at a university hospital in Tanzania (2016)
- Criteria-based audit to improve quality of care of foetal distress (2016)
- Improving Standards of Care in Obstructed Labour (2016)
- Maternal near-miss at university hospitals with cesarean overuse (2016)
- Does mode of follow-up influence contraceptive use after medical abortion in a low-resource setting? Secondary outcome analysis of a non-inferiority randomized controlled trial (2016)
- Beyond the numbers of maternal near-miss in Rwanda - a qualitative study on women's perspectives on access and experiences of care in early and late stage of pregnancy (2016)
- 'You try to play a role in her pregnancy' - a qualitative study on recent fathers' perspectives about childbearing and encounter with the maternal health system in Kigali, Rwanda (2016)
- Medical students are afraid to include abortion in their future practices (2016)
- Knowledge and utilization of sexual and reproductive healthcare services among Thai immigrant women in Sweden (2016)
- Views of Swedish commissioning parents relating to the exploitation discourse in using transnational surrogacy (2015)
- Being a bridge (2015)
- Transnational surrogacy (2015)
- Healing the health system after civil unrest (2015)
- Self-assessment of the outcome of early medical abortion versus clinic follow-up in India (2015)
- ‘Disrespectful men, disrespectable women’ (2015)
- Preterm and postterm birth in immigrant- and Swedish-born parents (2015)
- "What about the mother?" (2015)
- Fear, Blame And Transparency (2015)
- Trends and social differentials in child mortality inRwanda 1990–2010 (2015)
- Social equity in perinatal survival (2015)
- The importance of considering the evidence in the MTP 2014 Amendment debate in India (2015)
- Acceptability of Home-Assessment PostMedical Abortion and Medical Abortion in aLow-Resource Setting in Rajasthan, India (2015)
- 'They would never receive you without a husband' (2015)
- Severe maternal morbidity associated with maternal birthplace in three high-immigration settings (2015)
- Anthropometric measures in relation to risk of heart failure hospitalization (2014)
- Violence and reproductive health preceding flight from war (2014)
- Reproductive and maternity health care services in Finland (2014)
- Suboptimal care and maternal mortality among foreign-born women in Sweden (2014)
- Intimate partner violence and poor mental health among Thai women residing in Sweden (2014)
- Development of the Migrant Friendly Maternity Care Questionnaire (MFMCQ) for migrants to Western societies (2014)
- Negotiating Respectability (2014)
- Maternal near-miss and death and their association with caesarean section complications (2014)
- Simplified follow-up after medical abortion using a low-sensitivity urinary pregnancy test and a pictorial instruction sheet in Rajasthan, India (2014)
- Medical students' attitudes and perceptions on abortion (2014)
- Causes of death among undocumented migrants in Sweden, 1997-2010 (2014)
- More than re-establishing the partner relationship (2013)
- 'Let men into the pregnancy' (2013)
- Psychological Violence Experienced by Men Who Have Sex With Men in Puducherry, India (2013)
- Excess mortality in women of reproductive age from low-income countries (2013)
- Maternal mortality in Sweden 1988-2007 (2013)
- Navigating Between Control and Autonomy (2013)
- Medical students' knowledge, attitudes and perceptions towards contraceptive use and counselling (2013)
- Increasing caesarean section rates among low-risk groups (2013)
- Evaluating helping babies breathe (2013)
- Female genital mutilation, cutting, or circumcision. (2013)
- Measuring HIV- and AIDS-related stigma and discrimination in Nicaragua (2013)
- Assessing knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to HIV and AIDS in Nicaragua (2013)
- Increased risk of severe maternal morbidity (near-miss) among immigrant women in Sweden (2013)
- Seven things to know about female genital surgeries in Africa (2012)
- Shared Language Is Essential (2012)
- Conceptualising the prevention of adverse obstetric outcomes among immigrants using the 'three delays' framework in a high-income context (2012)
- Immigrant status and increased risk of heart failure (2012)
- Communication and Cultural Issues in Providing Reproductive Health Care to Immigrant Women (2012)
- Maternal mortality in Sweden 1988-2007. How many deaths were there, actually? (2012)
- Not too far to walk but too far for reciprocity (2012)
- Migrant Women Negotiating Gender Relations and Sexual and Reproductive Health Risks in Free Trade Zones, Sri Lanka (2012)
- Clinical audits to reduce cesarean section rates in a general hospital in Tehran, Iran. Ambitious or obtainable goal? (2012)
- Clinical Audits (2012)
- Sexuality and Risk Behavior among Men Who have Sex with Men in León, Nicaragua (2012)
- Country of birth and risk of hospitalization due to heart failure (2011)
- Stillbirth among foreign-born women in Sweden (2011)
- An anthropological analysis of the perspectives of Somali women in the West and their obstetric care providers on caesarean birth (2011)
- Perceived threat of violence and exposure to physical violence against foreign-born women (2011)
- Factors associated with married Iranian women´s contraceptive use in Turku, Finland (2010)
- The experience and responses of Swedish health professionals to patients requesting virginity restoration (hymen repair) (2010)
- Genitals and ethnicity (2010)
- Does antenatal care facilitate utilization of emergency obstetric care? (2010)
- Mödrasjuklighet och vårdkvalitet (2009)
- "Never my daughters" (2009)
- Socioeconomic differences in smoking trends among pregnant women at first antenatal visit in Sweden 1982-2001 (2009)
- Priorities in emergency obstetric care in Bolivia (2009)
- Social differentiation and embodied dispositions (2009)
- Religious beliefs prevailing among Somali men living in Finland regarding the use of the condom by men and that of other forms of contraception by women (2008)
- Young Cypriots on sex education (2008)
- Misclassified maternal deaths among east african immigrants in Sweden (2007)
- Modes of Governing
- HIV community prevalence and testing practices in León, Nicaragua
Chapters
- Perceived Religious Discrimination in Healthcare (2024)
- One Genital, Two Judgments (2020)
- Kvinnlig omskärelse (2010)
Conferences
- Culture and sexual scripts in and out of Africa (2015)
- Culture and sexual scripts in and out of Africa (2015)
Reports
