Midwife

Petra Næss

Petra Næss is originally from Sweden but has lived in Norway for 35 years. After completing her nursing education in 1985, she traveled to Rwanda, Africa, and worked for a year and a half at a small health center. That’s where her 'career' as a birth worker began.

She became a midwife in 1988 and traveled to Hammerfest for a summer job. Her stay in Northern Norway turned into a long one—she still lives there!

In her early years as a midwife, she worked at local hospitals in Finnmark, both in Hammerfest and Kirkenes. She also lived in Karasjok for a period and worked as a district midwife at a time when there was still a birthing center there.

Petra is married to Lars from Bodø, and in 1992 the family moved there. Nordland Hospital has been her regular workplace for 28 years. Nordland Hospital has a combined maternity-postpartum unit with an associated observation ward. Additionally, both a breastfeeding clinic and a counseling clinic are operated there. Petra helped establish both clinics and was involved in running both for several years.

She has further education in breastfeeding counseling (since 2004). Her work at the counseling clinic has contributed to her experience and competence in supporting women in various vulnerable situations.

Alongside her hospital work, Petra has always run her own business. Her main activities have been parental education and home birth services.

Petra is an engaged midwife who has always enjoyed professional development. In 2017, she completed a master’s degree in Public Health Science at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU).

She believes the natural birth—a spontaneous and undisturbed birth—is 'endangered.' Birth affects most people in a society, and if women are not well before, during, and after birth, it affects many. Women should have the right to give birth where they feel safe. They should not be deprived of the opportunity to do the work the female body is designed for.

The increasing rates of labor inductions and interference in the birth process greatly concern Petra. She believes that birth care in large units, with easy access to doctors and technology, is driven by fear and an overemphasis on risk. Petra’s midwife heart does not beat in sync with this kind of ideology and/or 'handling of women.'

After many years of ethical tension, she chose to leave the traditional maternity ward in favor of a midwife-led unit where women are given more opportunities to start and complete labor naturally. Petra therefore joined the ABC unit in 2021. When ABC was shut down, she was asked to continue with Min Fødsel, and it was not a difficult decision.

Petra still has an interest in working abroad and has been involved in several international missions. She has traveled with the Norwegian Red Cross to disaster areas and worked as a midwife in field hospitals. Other missions have focused more on training local birth attendants and quality assurance of practices, both in hospitals, health centers, and smaller clinics. She has visited Kenya and Zambia several times.

Privately, she is married to Lars and the mother of five adult sons. She has 'birth experience' from all levels: home birth, birthing center, local hospital, and women’s clinic. There’s no place like home ;-)

She still lives in Bodø and commutes extensively to live out her midwifery dream with Min Fødsel.