With 2023 coming to an end, we look back at an eventful year for KLF and our members. This fall we had our annual fall meeting, discussing home birth and its recent increasing popularity in Sweden. Representatives from the Swedish Midwife Association and the Swedish Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, as well as a neonatalogist attended, giving their perspectives on the subject. It has been a widely discussed topic for many years with a lot of controversy and media coverage. The Board was very happy with the outcome of the day and hope all members who attended learned a lot from the discussions taking place during the day.
We are, like everyone else around the world, horrified by the murdering of civilians in Palestine and Israel and unequivocally condemn the destruction of an already depleted healthcare system. As in all wars, women and children are the most affected. KLF published a statement earlier in the fall about the war in Gaza:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cz6nF9Qoa4w/?igsh=aDVlYXRuN3Z0c2dr
Our latest issue of Karolina (our members’ journal that comes out 4 times a year) is inspired by a Swedish study that was published recently indicating female surgeons have more favourable outcomes and operate more slowly than male surgeons in elective and acute care cholecystectomies.
Two representatives from the Board participated in The Swedish Women´s Lobby strategy days where everything from domestic violence, the aftermath of the women-life-freedom movement in Iran to mental health in young women in Sweden was discussed. During this fall´s Board meetings we have also discussed Claudia Goldin, the Nobel Prize winner in Economics and her important work highlighting the salary gap between women and men.
We look forward to 2024 and continuing the important work together with all of you – and we wish you all a happy new year!
Ebba Eilertz