Currently, the fertility rate is almost the same as in Denmark and Sweden, i.e. around 1.7 children per woman.
It is assumed that in order to maintain the population over the long term, every woman will need to have 2.1 children during her lifetime. When Iceland’s fertility was at its highest in 1960, statistically every woman had approximately 4.3 children.
Such data was published by the Medical Director’s Office for Health in the 2020 birth and fertility report.
Der Bericht sagtthat, according to studies carried out in Finland, the main reasons for the decline in fertility are the age of the woman who decide to have a child. The average age of pregnant women is rising and the number of women who do not want to have children is increasing. It can be assumed that the same reasons apply in this country.
In 2020, 4,499 children were born in Iceland. Statistically, there were 60.9 children per 1,000 women. The home birth rate was slightly higher than before, 118, which can probably be attributed to the coronavirus outbreak. A total of 719 women gave birth by caesarean section.
The vast majority of births took place in Landspítali, or 74 percent, but the numbers reflect well the varying access of women to maternity services in their home area.
So only half of the women living in East Iceland gave birth to children in their city or district. In contrast, the majority of women in the Westfjords (61.3 percent), Suðurnes (70.8 percent) and the south of the country (84 percent) gave birth outside of their place of residence.
The report also discusses diseases of pregnant women. It was observed that the percentage of women whose body weight increased significantly. This is related to, inter alia, with an increased risk of various problems, such as the risk of gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, pre-diabetes, blood clots, etc.
mmn / visir.is
Quelle: Yle
