Births at the National Hospital of Iceland are expected to increase by 20 percent, from 843 last summer in June, July and August to 976 this summer, due to the current prosperity and increase in foreign laborers.
“It has been proven that prosperity leads to an increase in birth but we have yet to determine whether the increase is caused by foreign laborers who move here and have children. We have already seen that happening,” Margrét I. Hallgrímsson, the director of the hospital’s women’s department, told Fréttabladid.
According to Hallgrímsson, 319 births can be expected in June, 317 in July and 340 in August, averaging 325 births each month during the summer. There were 235 births on average during the first four months of 2007 at the hospital.
“It has been very manageable since the beginning of the year, but there will be a lot to do in summer,” Hallgrímsson said. She added a lack of staff would not increase risk at childbirth and that the increase would be dealt with.
