As Anna-Leena sat in awe of the people providing care to her as a new mother, she knew what career path she wanted to take.
It was those “beautiful midwives” that brought out the passion and love her patients in Bendigo now get to thrive under.
“They were such beautiful role models and I thought ‘I want to be one of you’,” she said.
Anna-Leena has been a midwife for 31 years, but worked across the world before settling in Australia.
Her career began in her home country of Finland, but not in the industry you’d expect.
“I was in day care, early parenting before (starting in midwifery),” she said.
“All the women in my family were preschool teachers and that’s what I started.
“But I had my two of my three children in 1987 and 1989 before I started studying nursing and midwifery and I thought ‘maybe I want to do that, I want to be a midwife’.”
After completing her midwifery training, Anna-Leena worked in antenatal outpatient clinics, child health and school nursing for a little while.
Her journey took her to Saudi Arabia in 2000 and in the last part of her three-year stay she was the unit manager of primary care.
While she trotted across the globe, love brought her to central Victoria.
She was able to gain her Australian registration and accepted her first contract with Bendigo Health in 2005.
Anna-Leena worked in a number of positions in the old hospital, including portering, a ward clerk and administration in a number of areas.
Once she started working as a midwife in her new home, Anna-Leena discovered some differences between the industry back home and her new country.
“At home, it was truly being in a community and looking after well women and the hospital was the point for unwell women,” she said.
“Here, every woman comes to the hospital, so it was that shift on your thinking that was a bit challenging at first.
“But I have grown into the Australian system and I understand it now, but it is a very different model of care.”
But this didn’t stop her passion for her craft as she was able to become an important part of the hospital’s caseload midwifery program - MAMTA.
“I feel like that’s where my best friends came from, it’s such a tight little group of midwives,” she said.
“We’re similar minded, similar thoughts of our profession.”
Anna-Leena says to be a midwife, having heart is important.
“It’s really a profession that you think ‘this is something I want to be, it’s something I want to do’,” she said.
“But it opens so many doors and gives you so many opportunities to work in different settings, meet people.
“There are times when it is mentally very hard, but there is also times when you celebrate and be part of people’s lives.”