Hulda Þórey Garðarsdóttir, nurse and midwife, is a well-travelled woman. She came to Húsavík as a midwife from Hong Kong in 2019 and then took over as head of the healthcare center in Húsavík a year ago. In addition to Húsavík, she works with her colleagues in Þingeyjarsýslur counties in Kópasker, Raufarhöfn, Þórshöfn, Mývatn and Laugar. She drives a few miles, but she can also walk to work and finds living in such a family-friendly community as Húsavík is a fantastic lifestyle.

“I travel a lot in this work, although we also work with teleconferences. I quickly found out that by going to the other facilities I am much more involved in the work, I get both more perspective, but I also enjoy it and get to know the people. I go to all the places and do my clinical work, such as cancer screening and pregnancy monitoring in collaboration with those who are at the sites.”

The heart beats the same in Húsavík and Hong Kong

“I grew up in Kópasker, but came to Húsavík as a nursing student. I got a lot of autonomy as a student and I experienced a lot of diversity, which I found extremely fascinating. I went to study for a midwife in the south, but I always wanted to come back, but then I got the opportunity to move to Hong Kong, where I stayed for 20 years. In a random visit to Húsavík in 2019, I was told that there was a midwife’s lack in the area, I decided to try it out, and here I am still.”

Hulda Þórey was a brand new midwife in Hong Kong when she started working in a small midwifery that she then bought and expanded. “There’s a lot of things that are different from what you’re used to, different cultural things that I might not have understood right away. But nevertheless, the midwifery is the same everywhere, it’s about the same thing – a warm approach and honesty in the work. Húsavík or Hong Kong, the family process is the same, the heart beats the same.”

Women feel safe during pregnancy

Between 35-65 babies are born in Þingeyjarsýslur counties each year, but the vast majority are born at the Akureyri Hospital. Almost all pregnancy care is nevertheless provided in the District. “We are in close contact with expectant mothers in the District and are always ready to help if something unexpected happens. We also have a very good connection to the Akureyri Hospital, where a obstetrician and gynaecologist visits us regularly in Húsavík and performs checks. We are very focused on women feeling safe despite distances.”

Working with local authorities on preventive and health-based approaches

A good and multidisciplinary team provides health care in the region. “It’s a dynamic collaboration between different establishments that is constantly being developed. We work extensively with local authorities and try to coordinate work methods with a health-based approach in the community. We want to play a preventive role and try to share resources that we have with other establishments. It’s an interesting part of the work to take part in developing this on a broad basis and figure out how we can prioritize with people’s needs in mind.”

Hulda Þórey and colleagues in Þingeyjarsýslur counties are currently diving deeper into health promotion for the elderly, a project that is being developed more closely with guidance from the Icelandic Health Care Development Centre. “This is a very exciting project that has only just begun. We have already met about 50 senior citizens in Húsavík around this effort and will expand to the other centres. We are also developing and expanding maternity care services in the region and offer home visits in cooperation with local nurses.”