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Helen Elden

Professor/Nurse Midwife

Diagnostics, Acute and Critical Care
Telephone
+46 31-786 23 54
+46 766-18 23 54
Mail
helen.elden@gu.se
Visiting address
Arvid Wallgrens backe hus 1 och 2
41346 Göteborg
Postal address
Box 457
40530 Göteborg

About Helen Elden

Helen Elden is a Professor in Reproductive and Perinatal Health and the Research Group Leader for the Sexual, Reproductive, and Perinatal Health Research Group: https://www.gu.se/forskning/sexuell-reproduktiv-och-perinatal-halsa. at the Institute of Health and Care Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg. She is affiliated with the Complete Academic Environment (CAE) in Reproductive and Perinatal Health, integrating education, research, and collaboration. She completed her doctoral thesis, "Treatment Modalities for Pelvic Girdle Pain in Pregnant Women," in 2008.

With extensive clinical experience as a midwife, Helen currently serves as a Professor and Senior Consultant University Hospital Midwife in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg.

Helen has led four randomised controlled trials (RCTs) investigating treatments for pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy and was a member of the steering group for SWEPIS, the Swedish Postterm Induction Study, where she was responsible for patient-reported outcomes and experiences. She is currently a member of the steering groups for OPTION, a major national multicentre RCT, and PREGDEM, an international study.

Research Interests

Helen’s primary research interests include:

Acupuncture and pelvic girdle pain in relation to pregnancy

Treatment strategies for post-term pregnancy (SWEPIS)

Induction of labour (OutPatientInductiON, OPTION Study)

Pregnancy and childbirth as a political process (PREGDEM, Website)

Preeclampsia (GO-PROVE, Preeclampsia Research)

Experiences of undocumented pregnant women

Obstetric triage of pregnant and postpartum women (Gothenburg Obstetric Triage System, GOTS)

Additionally, she represents Sweden in the IMAgiNE EURO project (Improving Maternal and Newborn Care), focusing on the experiences of women giving birth and healthcare staff during the COVID-19 pandemic across 20 European countries.

Research Supervision

Doctoral Students Supervised to Completion: Main Supervisor

Shouroq Hawamdeh: Midwives’ Attitudes Toward Labour Pain (2019)

Anna Wessberg: Induction of Labour at 41 vs. 42 Weeks (2019)

Post doc Supervised to Completion: Main Supervisor

Samuel Nambile Cumber (2023)

Ongoing Doctoral Supervision: Main Supervisor

Emma Dahlberg: Labour Induction from a Woman-Centred Perspective

Doctoral Supervision to Half-Time: Main Supervisor

Helena Niver: Women’s Childbirth Experiences Following Induction at 41 Weeks Compared to Expectant Management. (2022)

Lilja Thórunn Thorgeirsdottir: Cognition, Experiences, and Self-Created Health in Women with Preeclampsia.

(2024).

Doctoral Supervision as Assistant Supervisor

Camilla Busche: Partners’ Experiences of Labour Induction.

Main Supervisor: Verena Sengpiel, Docent, PhD, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Department of Clinical Sciences.

Heléne Sangskär: Outpatient Induction of Labour – OPTION Study.

Main Supervisor: Ylva Carlsson, PhD, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Department of Clinical Sciences.

Research Projects

Helen’s projects are collaborative, national, and international, involving multidisciplinary teams:

PREGDEM: Collaboration with Political Science (University of Gothenburg), McGill University (Canada), and Trinity College (Ireland)

SWEPIS: Collaboration with 11 hospitals in Sweden

OPTION: Collaboration with 33 hospitals in Sweden

GO-PROVE: International collaboration with universities in South Africa, Australia, Chile, the USA, the Netherlands, and the UK

IMAgiNE EURO Project: Partnerships with researchers in 20 European countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, France, and others

Academic and Administrative Roles

Helen is:

A member of the Swedish Ethical Review Authority, the Staf Portal (LFN), the Research Council (FOR), and the Research Committee (FOS) at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg

The subject representative for Reproductive and Perinatal Health, overseeing its development in education and research

Course leader and examiner at advanced and doctoral levels, delivering lectures in ethics, research methodology, pain mechanisms, and pain-relieving methods in the Midwifery Programme and the Master’s Programme in Reproductive and Perinatal Health

Educational Contributions

Helen is responsible for the Master’s Programme in Reproductive and Perinatal Health, the only programme of its kind in Sweden. The programme leads to an eligibility to apply for a Master’s degree in reproductive and perinatal health

Keywords

Acupuncture, childbirth, childbirth experiences, ethics, induction of labour, obstetrics, obstetric triage system, patient-reported outcomes (PROMs), patient-reported experiences (PREMs), pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain, post-term pregnancy, preeclampsia, randomised controlled trials, qualitative research.