Kyllike Christensson got her nursing and midwifery training in Gothenburg, Sweden, during the 1960s. Directly after graduating she moved to Stockholm and began work in one of the major delivery units.

After some years she went back to university for Midwifery Tutor Training and then in parallel with teaching started her research studies. The title for her PhD thesis is “Care of the newborn infant, satisfying the need for warmth and energy conservation”. This topic for research has later been combined with research within the field of health systems, e.g. factors contributing to or preventing optimal midwifery practices.

For more than 25 years she has worked with capacity building in low-income countries. In 2003 she became professor in Caring Sc and is presently the Head of Division for Reproductive Health at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.