Abra Nungasuk Patkotak

Abra Nungasuk Patkotak is Iñupiaq from Utqiagvik, Alaska, and Gifford, Idaho. Abra resides in Dgheyey Kaq’, also known as Anchorage, on Dena’ina land. She is an Indigenous Full-Spectrum Birthworker, student midwife, and Co-Creator and Co-Director of the Alaska Native Birthworkers Community, a role through which she advances reproductive justice while serving Indigenous birthing people.

In 2010, Abra was trained as a doula, and in 2023, she received her Bachelor of Social Work degree from the University of Alaska Anchorage. Abra is a 2023 Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples Healing & Leadership Fellow, a 2024 Rockwood Prenatal-to-3 Fellow, and a 2025 Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellow. She serves as a Committee Member with the State of Alaska Maternal Child Death Review and was recently appointed to HRSA's Advisory Committee on Infant and Maternal Mortality.

In the fall of 2023, Abra began training to become a direct-entry midwife. Upon completion of her program, Abra will be one of just a few practicing Inupiaq midwives in Alaska, and she is looking forward to increasing access to midwifery care for her people. In all she does, Abra's overarching goal is to create safer spaces for pregnant and parenting people through systems change, policy work, and direct support.