Christine Agdestein

About

Christine Agdestein is a specialist in family medicine with an extensive background in health services and leadership. Currently a Visiting PhD student at Yale School of Public Health and a PhD student at the Department of Public Health and Nursing at NTNU, Christine has dedicated her career to primary health care and public service. At Yale University she has studied biostatistics, maternal-child public health nutrition and global health foundations.

Christine's educational background includes a Medical Doctor degree from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Oslo, supplemented with research and entrepreneurial training from institutions like Boston University and Uppsala University. Her commitment to continuous learning is evident through her numerous executive management courses and leadership programs.

In her professional career, Christine has served as a Family Physician at Sjøsia legekontor in Steinkjer, where she also held the positions of CEO and board leader. Her leadership extends to local government, where she has served as Deputy Mayor of Steinkjer municipality. She has also been actively involved in various boards and committees related to healthcare administration and policy.

Her research interests focus on the postpartum health and care for women. Christine is contributing to both scientific literature and public discussions.

Christine has received multiple scholarships and awards, including being named Family Physician of the Year by the Norwegian Association of General Practice in 2019. She has also a co-founded and lead several voluntary organizations aimed at supporting medical student researchers and promoting women's leadership in business.

Research

High quality postpartum care is important for the health and well-being of mothers, children and families. The WHO emphasizes that follow-up of mothers must be strengthened, and that care must be adapted to the woman´s needs. There is limited research on women´s experiences from, and expectations and needs for primary health care after giving birth. The Family Physician is an important provider of maternity care in Norway. We are doing research on women´s experiences from and expectations for maternity care at their Family Physician, aiming to personalize follow-up to increase patient satisfaction and maternal health.

The first study in the PhD project is a retrospective questionnaire survey regarding women´s expectations and experiences with the postpartum check-up with the Family Physician. We have asked which topics women discussed with their doctor, which physical examinations were done and women´s opinion on the importance of different topics and examinations. We have further asked women for suggestions for improving the check-up. We surveyed how many women went to the postpartum check-up and reasons for not attending.

The second study examines women´s general, mental and sexual health after birth in the population of the county North Trondelag in Norway. Research indicates that women want more information from their Family Physician about common health issues and sexual health after giving birth. Good sexual health is important for well-being, quality of life and relationships. Sexual health is influenced by many factors and can be further complicated after birth. We will study self-assessed general health, sleep, exhaustion, depression and anxiety and the association of these variables with birth and sexual health. We will investigate potential connections between sexual health and parity, birth complications, incontinence and breast feeding. The data material is from the Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT), which is one of the most comprehensive population studies in the world. Data will be coupled with data from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway. All relevant permissions have been granted. Work on this study will be the main activity during my year abroad.

The third study is a qualitative co-design intervention study where we will develop and test a tool for personalized postpartum follow-up at the Family Physician. The woman will before the consultation receive a list of relevant topics and prioritize her own personal list of the topics that are most important to her. The list will be the starting point of the consultation with her doctor. The tool will be evaluated by women and doctors. The main goal is to improve women’s satisfaction with the follow-up by personalizing the health care she receives, based on her needs. The tool will also give doctors practical support. The development and test process will be conducted in close collaboration with women and doctors. The tool will be adjusted according to feed-back. If this tool is perceived as helpful and feasible, we will discuss how this type of preparation tool can be implemented in maternal health care and possibly also in other fields of health care.

Allmennmedisinsk forskningsenhet

Personsentrert barselomsorg – en gyllen mulighet for å fremme helse og mestring i et livsløpsperspektiv

Prosjektets overordnede mål er å utvikle kunnskap som bidrar til en bedre og mer persontilpasset barseloppfølging, som styrker kvinnehelsen på kort sikt og i et livsløpsperspektiv.

Publications

Outreach

2025

Lecture

Agdestein, Christine. (2025) Rådslag om revisjon av Nasjonal faglig retningslinje for spedbarnsernæring. Helsedirektoratet Rådslag om revisjon av Nasjonal faglig retningslinje for spedbarnsernæring , Oslo 2025-02-27 - 2025-02-27

2024

Academic lecture

Agdestein, Christine. (2024) Barselomsorg hos fastlegen. Universitetet i Oslo, Allmennlegeforeningen, NFA Grunnkurs for Allmennleger , Trondheim 2024-04-22 - 2024-04-22

2023

Academic lecture

Agdestein, Christine. (2023) Barselomsorg hos fastlegen. Helsedirektoratet Møte Helsedirektoratet , Digitalt 2023-10-25 - 2023-10-25
Academic lecture

Agdestein, Christine. (2023) Barselomsorg hos fastlegen . NKS NKS Trøndelag Kvinnehelsedag , Hell 2023-10-07 - 2023-10-07
Lecture

Agdestein, Christine. (2023) Oppfølging av skrøpelige eldre - hvordan kan helsefellesskap mellom sykehus og kommuner bidra? . SKIL SKIL konferansen , Bergen 2023-03-22 - 2023-03-22

2022

Academic lecture

Agdestein, Christine; Vie, Gunnhild Åberge; Baasland, Ingrid; Horn, Julie; Mjølstad, Bente Prytz. (2022) Maternity care at the GP office - from the patient perspective. Nordic Federation of General Practitioners/ NFA 22nd Nordic congress of general practice , Stavanger 2022-06-21 - 2022-06-23
Interview

Agdestein, Christine; Skarpjordet, Tea Eline. (2022) Stor misnøye blant nybakte mødre. Nå skal Steinkjer-lege forske . steinkjer24.no steinkjer24.no [Internet] 2022-02-08
Interview

Agdestein, Christine; Nilsen, Lars Brock. (2022) NTNU-forsker vil kartlegge fastlegers oppfølging av gravide. Dagens medisin Dagens medisin [Internet] 2022-02-11
Interview

Agdestein, Christine. (2022) Har du født nylig? Da vil hun høre fra deg . Innherred.no Innherred.no [Internet] 2022-01-20
Interview

Agdestein, Christine; Helland, Anja Harløff. (2022) En av tre som har født under pandemien rapporterer om depresjonssymptomer. Trønder-Avisa Trønder-Avisa [Internet] 2022-03-12
Interview

Agdestein, Christine. (2022) Christine skal kartlegge hva som er viktig i oppfølginga av gravide. Namdalsavisa Namdalsavisa [Internet] 2022-02-09

2004

Poster

Agdestein, Christine; Gu, Ning; Storm, Johan Frederik. (2004) The roles of KCNQ/M - channels in regulation of synaptic efficacy and excitability in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cells. Society for Neuroscience The Society for Neuroscience 34th Annual Meeting , San Diego, CA 2004-10-23 - 2004-10-27
Poster

Agdestein, Christine; Vervaeke, Koen Gerard Alois; Gu, Ning; Storm, Johan Frederik. (2004) THE ROLES OF KCNQ/M-CHANNELS IN REGULATION OF SYNAPTIC EFFICACY AND EXCITABILITY IN HIPPOCAMPAL CA1 PYRAMIDAL CELLS. Society for Neuroscience Neuroscience 2004 , San Diego 2004-10-23 - 2004-10-27

Språkvelger

Christine Agdestein