Fewer births last year in Landsspítali National Hospital
More than three thousand babies were born at Landspítali last year. Morgunblaðið/Ásdís
The number of births decreased slightly between years at Landspítali National Hospital. Last year, 3,057 births were registered there, but in 2023 there were 3,166.
This is stated in Landspítali's response to Morgunblaðið's inquiry. It should be noted that the number of babies born is somewhat higher due to multiple births.
Hulda Hjartardóttir, head physician of Landspítali's obstetrics service, says in an interview with Morgunblaðið that this is considered a normal fluctuation between years. The final figures for the entire country have yet to be compiled, and then it will be clearer how the year has compared to previous years. "There have usually been between 3,000-3,500 births per year at Landspítali. We also know that more women are now giving birth outside the hospital, for example at the Reykjavík Maternity Hospital and at Björkin, in addition to home births. Perhaps the number of births in our maternity ward is decreasing a little. This will become clearer when a full birth registration is completed later in the year.”
If the figures back to 2020 are examined, the aforementioned fluctuations are clearly visible. In 2022, there were 3,109 births at Landspítali, in 2021 they were 3,465 and in 2020 3,284 births were registered.
