Berglind Hálfdánsdóttir, midwife and doctoral student at the Faculty of Nursing received a grant from the memorial fund of Björg Magnúsdóttir, midwife and Magnús Jónsson, farmer; for her research on home births in Iceland and what influences them. The aim of the study is to strengthen the development of support services in child bearing in the Health Care System.
“The study mostly includes healthy women and examines how successful home births are compared to deliveries in hospitals in this group,” says Hálfdánsdóttir. The inspiration for her research is the increase in home births in recent years. “They are currently 2% of deliveries, which is a higher percentage than in most Western countries. However, no academic research has been made on the level of service in home birthing in Iceland.”
Hálfdánsdóttir explains that service concerning births can vary in different situations. “Each birth is unique and the same kind of service does not necessarily fit all families. Diverse service, in sync with the wishes of the parents to be, and based on scientific knowledge is the prerequisite for continuing development in birth service in the Health Care System.”
Since the research is in its early stages no results have emerged as of yet. “Foreign research in comparable groups often reveals that home births are equally or even more successful than deliveries in hospitals. Even though these results correspond with midwives’ ideology on births as a natural process; research shows that the success of home births is closely linked to the service and situation in each country; thus these results may not apply in Iceland.”
Hálfdánsdóttir contributes to the knowledge in midwifery with her study; a young discipline in Iceland. Furthermore, the results will add to the knowledge of home birth success; but deliveries in the home have increased rapidly in the world in recent years.
Supervisor: Herdís Sveinsdóttir, Professor at the Faculty of Nursing.
