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Aino works to improve women’s intimate health
She is passionate about making life easier for women of all ages. Many suffer in silence from problems affecting their intimate health and feel too ashamed to talk about their symptoms with others or seek care. It is high time that research focuses on common but troublesome women’s health issues, Aino believes.
Aino Fianu Jonasson, a specialist in urinary incontinence and former senior consultant, is today a senior researcher. In 1988, she became the first woman to earn a doctorate at the clinic where she worked at the time, a groundbreaking step both in her career and in the clinic’s history.
She had to struggle against the condescending attitude toward her research field, which for a long time was considered less prestigious.
– Researching urinary incontinence was not glamorous, and in the past there was a large hidden number of affected women. Everyday problems are easily overshadowed by what is considered more prestigious, says Aino.
However, the great gratitude she received from patients made up for it. Thanks to Aino, many who had isolated themselves at home have received help and thus a freer life.
Housewife was the ideal
Aino has taken a long road to becoming a researcher. Already as a young girl growing up in Årjäng, Värmland, her interest in gynecology and childbirth was sparked when she was allowed to accompany her mother, who worked as a nursing assistant, to the maternity ward. From home, she also brought with her a habit of reading and encouragement to pursue education. Aino first worked as a nursing assistant, then moved to Stockholm and trained as a nurse and midwife. She began working at Södersjukhuset and went on to study to become a teacher at SIHUS – the Swedish National Institute for the Higher Education of Nurses.
But building a medical career as a woman at a time when the housewife was still the ideal an – d within the clear power structures of hospital environments – was not always easy.
– I was trained within a male hierarchy in the hospital where women were expected to be submissive. It was much tougher in those days.
Yet at the clinic, colleagues supported and encouraged one another. Many of them are still her friends today.
– When a colleague at the midwifery institution had been accepted into medical school, she called me and said I had to apply too because it was so much fun – which I did straight away, Aino recalls.
Wrote her thesis in her spare time
This was a special medical program for trained nurses, and therefore shorter with reduced clinical training, though students still had to cover a lot in a limited time. Aino had an advantage thanks to her solid experience as a midwife and was able to skip obstetrics. Many of her female classmates who had families found it difficult to keep up with their studies, as they struggled to attend evening lectures.
– We were 23 students when we started, but only thirteen graduated on time without taking a break. Many had families to take care of at the same time, and we studied together with the regular medical students.
She always received strong support in her pursuit of knowledge from her husband, who was a physician and associate professor.
– He encouraged me and thought I should start doing research. At Huddinge Hospital it was almost a requirement to conduct research in order to secure a position. But I had to write my thesis in my spare time or during compensatory leave after on-call shifts.
As a doctor, you are often surprised that women well into the menopausal years have no idea what their genitals look like.
Aino Fianu Jonasson
Senior consultant, specialist in urinary, now a senior researcher
“Teaching about women’s anatomy – a disaster”
Aino was offered a temporary position as a physician at Huddinge Hospital. In 1988 she completed her doctorate on how Laminaria japonica prevents infections. It is a type of brown algae that was used at the time in early abortions.
Aino and her husband had no children, but both were deeply committed to their professions and quite literally took their work home: they had a patient practice in their apartment, whose spacious layout made this possible.
During the 1990s, Aino divided her time evenly between clinical work, teaching, and research, and it was also then that urinary incontinence became her specialty. She has also been strongly engaged in related areas such as menopausal symptoms.
Aino emphasizes the importance of education. Many women, for example, have limited knowledge of their own anatomy and need explanations of how things work.
– The education we received at school was a disaster. As a doctor, you are often surprised that women well into the menopausal years have no idea what their genitals look like. Sex education often focuses mainly on reproduction and protection against sexually transmitted infections. There is a lack of guidance on self-care and preventive measures.
Aino has made knowledge accessible to both practitioners and the general public in many ways. There is strong demand for her lectures on urinary incontinence and menopause.
– I have never had to market myself; companies and various organizations have contacted me. I have given many lectures to general practitioners, who often meet patients with health problems related to dry and fragile mucous membranes.
Continues research at age 83
Aino, who will soon turn 83 and has recently scaled down, continues her research. She is currently working on a study on bacterial vaginosis.
– It is a common condition, especially among younger women, and is currently treated with antibiotics. Since it is difficult to get rid of, treatment often has to be repeated several times, which can lead to other complications. There was some research on this in the 1980s, but not much has happened since then.
Aino stresses the need for more research that highlights challenging women’s health issues affecting so many people’s quality of life.
– Everyday problems affecting far too many women are easily overshadowed by more prestigious areas. We must be more people ensuring that this type of research is brought forward.
TEXT: Lotta Segelberg (english translation by Forte)
