UNRIC has interviewed Ánne-Hedvig Salmi Nordsletta: a Sámi researcher, nurse, and midwife connected with UiT The Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø. Herself born Sámi and speaker of North Sámi, she is bringing Sámi voices into healthcare research. August 9th is International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, celebrated under the theme Honouring Indigenous Midwives: Safeguarding Life and Well-being.
Since her four years as a PhD student, Ánne-Hedvig Salmi Nordsletta has been doing research around Sámi women, childbirth and midwives. Her research is the first of its kind and emphasizes the importance of culturally safe maternity care, where Sámi women feel understood, respected, and included.
After her studies to be a nurse and later a midwife, she has and is still working as a midwife at the University Hospital of North-Norway.
– I have always been fascinated by pregnancy and childbirth since I was young. It was my dream to become a midwife, Ánne-Hedvig Salmi Nordsletta explains, adding that her grandmother, who died before Ánne-Hedvig was born, was a midwife whose stories lived on in generations.
Culture, language and identity
Ánne-Hedvig Salmi Nordsletta’s research focuses on Indigenous perspectives on women’s health, pregnancy, and maternity care, with particular attention to how healthcare systems can better understand and respect Sámi culture, traditions, and experiences. She examines issues such as cultural safety, traditional birth practices, language, and the importance of adapting healthcare services to meet the needs of Indigenous communities.
– Today early childcare is centralized and medicalized all over Norway, including Sápmi, and Sámi women’s childbirth doesn’t differ from any Norwegian childbirth at first glance. But the cultural and traditional aspects are present. The differences may not always be immediately visible, but culture, language and identity still shape how childbirth is experienced and how care is perceived, Nordsletta says.
Culturally appropriate maternity care
Her work highlights a wider global issue: ensuring that Indigenous peoples receive healthcare that respects their identity, knowledge systems, and cultural backgrounds. By documenting Sámi women’s experiences, Nordsletta aims to strengthen more equal and culturally appropriate maternity care.
What has surprised her the most in her research involving midwives in northern Norway was that some healthcare providers focused on treating all women “the same,” even if this could sometimes overlook Sámi women’s specific cultural needs and experiences. This is supported by Sámi women’s own experience: that some of them expressed a feeling of not being fully understood and heard during their childbirth experience.
– Even if all Sámi women speak Norwegian, it can be hard to express yourself in such an emotional state as childbirth can be, Nordsletta explains. There is a line between treating everyone the same instead of recognizing that Sámi women may have specific cultural, linguistic, and historical experiences that influence their care.
Significant need for research
The International Confederation of Midwives Congress in Lisbon in June this year became an important meeting place for Indigenous midwives, researchers, and advocates from around the world. Alongside sharing knowledge and experiences, the congress also highlighted ongoing discussions about the recognition of Indigenous midwifery and the importance of ensuring that Indigenous knowledge, languages, and cultural perspectives are respected within maternity care.
– My research opened a whole new world for me; I have gotten so many contacts to other indigenous peoples in other parts of the world. Meeting Indigenous researchers from around the world has been one of the most rewarding parts of my PhD. It also highlighted that there is still a significant need for research on Sámi women’s experiences of pregnancy and childbirth, and I hope my work can contribute to filling that gap.
Importance of identity in maternity care
As a mother of two boys herself she is still a practicing midwife parallel to her research work. Her third study is currently being reviewed. Ánne-Hedvig Salmi Nordsletta’s research has showed that Sámi women’s experiences of pregnancy and childbirth are closely connected to culture, language, identity, and their relationship with healthcare services. Her work highlights that equal healthcare does not always mean treating everyone in the same way but ensuring that care respects people’s backgrounds and needs.
The work of Sámi researchers and midwives also connects to wider international efforts to protect Indigenous peoples’ rights. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples recognizes Indigenous peoples’ rights to maintain their cultures, languages, traditions, and knowledge systems, as well as their right to participate in decisions affecting them.
– Equal maternity care does not always mean treating everyone the same. It means ensuring that every woman feels safe, respected and understood. And for Indigenous women that includes recognizing the importance of their history, language, culture and identity in maternity care, Ánne-Hedvig Salmi Nordsletta concludes.