Infant mortality in the Nordic countries, 1780–1930

• Published in: Continuity and Change
• Main Authors: EDVINSSON, SÖREN, GARÐARSDÓTTIR, ÓLÖF, THORVALDSEN, GUNNAR
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2008
• Subjects: General Social Sciences; History; Iceland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0268416008006917; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0268416008006917

ABSTRACT This article summarizes aspects of the decline in infant mortality in the five Nordic countries. During the nineteenth century, both the levels of infant mortality and its development differed among the Nordic countries. At an early date, Denmark, Norway and Sweden stood out as the countries with the lowest levels in Europe whereas levels of infant mortality in Iceland and Finland were comparatively high. Within the countries there were large regional differences that often crossed national borders. Artificial feeding characterized most of the areas with the highest infant mortality. Within the different countries the high infant mortality came to be seen as a problem during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The spread of information, midwives as agents of change and high literacy are factors that have been proven important in explaining the subsequent decline.