Saga - 2004, Blaðsíða 127

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Abstract
M I D W I V E S , I N FA N T F E E D I N G A N D H Y G I E N E
Aspects of improved infant survival rates in Iceland through the late 19th and
early 20th centuries
This article deals with various aspects of declining infant mortality in Iceland
during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The first part of the article discus-
ses the role of feeding practices in infant health and survival, while the second
part debates the role of midwives and physicians in lowering infant mortality.
The third part presents research into the impact of breastfeeding upon fertility,
and the fourth deals with the role that women’s work played in the health and
well-being of their young children.
Despite its low degree of urbanisation, pre-transitional Iceland is demon-
strated as having higher infant mortality rates than most other European soci-
eties. Prior to 1870, infant mortality levels at a national level rarely dropped
below 250 per 1,000 births. The main reason for high mortality levels, it is argued,
was a weak tradition of breastfeeding. With few exceptions, Icelandic babies
were either fed artificially from birth or weaned at a very young age. This created
exceptionally high mortality levels, particularly during the first few months of
life. The application of the well-known biometric model of infant mortality, ini-
tially developed by Bourgois-Pichat, supports the hypothesis of a weak breast-
feeding tradition in Iceland.
Notwithstanding the customary lack of breastfeeding, the pre-transitional
period presents considerable regional differences in infant feeding methods,
which produced important differences in both mortality patterns and mortality
levels. A few examples are shown of regions and social groups where breast-
feeding was both common and of long duration. The most interesting of these
cases is Reykjavík, where by 1850 infant mortality had become lower than in any
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