Women's Health Festival

Through an engaging lightning-fast presentation, she explains how the placenta works, why it is crucial for both mother and child, and shows off the baby's "first home" in the womb. Maybe we'll even get to see a real, newborn placenta live on stage.

This panel discussion is about information, trust, and accessibility. How do age, experience, culture, and trust influence which sources we choose – and what do we need to do to meet women with the right information at the right time?

In the panel we meet

Siri Kløkstad, gynecologist, Sex and society

Andrea Skaarer Kreutz, CEO, Amathea

Elin Rekdal Müller, Senior Advisor, Kilden Gender Research

Elisabeth Swärd, Special Advisor Women's Health, Sanitary Women's Association

Cecilie Hoxmark, author, podcaster, leader of Project Transparency

Kamzy Gunaratnam, Member of Parliament, Labour Party

The moderator is Ann-Kristin Selmer, project manager for the women's health portal/special advisor, National Center for Women's Health Research

Here you will meet patient associations, non-profit organizations and professionals who share knowledge and experiences. You can ask questions, learn more about how hormones affect the body and mind at different stages of life – and get useful tips about women's health that you can take with you.

The Oslo Emergency Medical Student Association provides experienced first aiders who provide practical training with a focus on heart disease and stroke in women. You will also learn basic CPR under expert guidance.

Together with Sister Solidarity, a voluntary organization that collaborates with local actors globally, we sew durable, washable and comfortable pads. The workshop also creates a space to talk openly about periods across cultures and experiences.

All equipment is available, and you don't need any prior knowledge. Help break down taboos and provide practical support to women and girls in need – one stitch at a time.

We focus on fibromyalgia, endometriosis, adenomyosis and migraine/cluster headaches. The conversations are open to all generations and genders, and include both medical expertise and participants as experts in their own lives.

We start in plenary with short professional introductions about the diagnoses, and then the conversations take place in respectful and supportive groups. Everyone participates to the extent they wish . Welcome to learning, support and good conversations. The café is perfume-free.

For introductions and with us in the conversations, we have neurologist Aud Nome Dueland, former senior consultant at the rheumatology department, Diakonhjemmet hospital and professor at UiO Hilde Berner Hammer , leader of the Endometriosis Association Marte Øien, leader of Headache Norway Oslo Berit S. Kjesbu and special advisor for Women's Health at the Women's Health Association Elisabeth Swärd.

The story takes us back to 1943, when eight women in Arvika stood trial after helping each other with abortions. The show is a performative docu-soap that premiered in 2022 under the name Aborthärvan.

A specially adapted version will be shown at the Women's Health Festival, and the art group OTALT will talk about the project and present the new book that documents the work. OTALT is a feminist art group from Arvika consisting of Anna Ehnsiö, Helene Karlsson and Sara Falkstad.

In the spring of 2023, mother of two and academic Line Normann Hjorth was diagnosed with breast cancer, and shortly after, her mother, author Vigdis Hjorth, received the same news. In the book *Cool in the Chest. The Year We Got Sick*, they describe the dramatic upheaval a serious diagnosis brings.

The conversation addresses the course of treatment, challenges as a patient and relative, and how they handle roles they have never experienced before. The conversation is led by Wenche Mühleisen and provides both insight and reflection on breast cancer and women's health.

Here you will meet patient associations, non-profit organizations and professionals who share knowledge and experiences. You can ask questions, learn more about how hormones affect the body and mind at different stages of life, and get useful tips about women's health that you can take with you.

The Oslo Emergency Medical Student Association provides experienced first aiders who provide practical training with a focus on heart disease and stroke in women. You will also learn basic CPR under expert guidance.

Together with Sister Solidarity, a voluntary organization that collaborates with local actors globally, we sew durable, washable and comfortable pads. The workshop also creates a space to talk openly about periods across cultures and experiences.

All equipment is available, and you don't need any prior knowledge. Help break down taboos and provide practical support to women and girls in need – one stitch at a time.

Welcome
Runa Haug Khoury, Program Council Women's Health Festival

The numbers speak – what is it all about?
Anita Hegge, Founder & CEO, Hvild

Employees in menopause – an employer perspective
Tove Selnes, Executive Vice President, People, Brand & Communications, Storebrand

Technology that gives women better health
Sigrun Syverud, Chief Operating Officer, NØRS

Sofa conversation: Transitional power!
Dr. Marianne Natvik, author of “Transitional power!”, in conversation with Runa Haug Khoury

Modern maternity care makes childbirth safer, but that doesn't mean everything is perfect. Many are calling for a focus on mental health, care, safety and continuity in addition to medical expertise. What do women who are about to give birth experience where maternity clinics are closing? 

With Aïda Leistad Thomassen, leader of the Barselooppreoret and
Anna Hoel, regional board of the Norwegian Midwives Association

The conversation is led by Anine Hallgren, journalist at Aftenposten.

In collaboration with the National Center for Women's Health Research, we invite parents, grandparents, and others with experience to open conversations. Here you can share stories, learn from others' experiences, and help shape the future of maternity care.

The discussions take place in smaller groups around café tables, and the event is open to everyone. Senior Consultant Liv Ellingsen from the Department of Obstetrics at Rikshospitalet, Oslo University Hospital, and presenter of the Women's Health Podcast, will lead parts of the discussions and share her professional insights.

The Medical Museum is an integrated part of The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology with its own exhibitions and an extensive part of The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology 's collections consists of the history of medicine.

One of the focus areas of the collection is women's health. Among other things, we have the Maternity Home Exhibition that Katti Anker Møller organized in 1916 in the landfill. It is this exhibition in particular and the story of Katti Anker Møller's work that you will hear about here. We also have a large collection from the Women's Clinic at the old National Hospital.