In the first year, 61 babies were born at the Reykjavik Birth Center 

The first baby was born on September 30th, 2022 and in the next 24 hours two more babies were born. These babies are now celebrating their first birthday and we wish them and their families a happy birthday. 

Since then, 58 babies have been born at the center and the total count is therefore 61 babies, 33 girls and 28 boys. Most of the mothers were Icelandic but 18% of the mothers in the group were immigrants and this shows that the total population in Iceland is well represented at the Birth Center. 

Many of the families that have received antenatal care, birth and postpartum services at the center were expecting their first baby. In fact, half of the babies born in the first year were their parents' first baby. Waterbirths were common (>60%) and in almost all cases the mother gave birth in an upright position. About 9 out of ten women used water for pain management and about half of them used massage, aromatherapy, acupuncture and music. They all received continuous care from a midwife in pregnancy and birth. 

If you would like to know more about our services, you can click here or register for our open house on October 24th. During the open house, the midwives will give a short presentation about our services and then expecting parents can tour the facilities and chat with the midwives. 

Increased services for the Polish speaking community

Equal access to care and information is one of our most important goals at the Reykjavik Birth Center. To achieve this goal, we have teamed up with Paulina and Alicja, who are Polish in origin but live here in Iceland with their families. 

Paulina is a doula and teaches wonderful birth preparation courses in Polish. Alicja is a midwife and lactation consultant. She teaches two classes at the birth center, one about breastfeeding and another about taking care of the newborn. She provides lactation consultation services at the center and postpartum home visits as well. Her services are mostly in Polish and English. 

Paulina and Alicja will host an open house for the Polish speaking community on November 12th. They will provide information about giving birth in Iceland. All Polish speaking families are welcome!

Read more!

A variety of services - for all families!

We offer a variety of services for women and families. These services are not just for the families that decide to give birth at the center - but for all families - and includes classes to prepare for birth and breastfeeding (in Icelandic, English and Polish). We also have pregnancy and postpartum yoga classes in Icelandic and English, acupuncture, massage therapy and lactation consultation. 

We have hosted a weekly, very popular gathering for families on Tuesdays. Everyone is welcome to join us - whether they have been receiving care from the midwives at the center or not. This is a safe space to meet other parents, talk about your parenting experiences and just enjoy the company of others. These events are free. 

All our events are listed on our website. 

NEW! Gift Cards for a new family!

We have started to sell gift cards for our services. This is a perfect gift for a family that is expecting a baby - or for a new family. A gift for Christmas, baby shower, naming ceremony or just to give a meaningful gift to a growing family. The gift cards are useful for the classes, massage therapy, acupuncture and yoga.

The future is bright!

Looking back over our first year, we first and foremost feel gratitude. Gratitude for being able to provide midwifery care in a way we believe is the best, gratitude for great collaboration with other healthcare providers and gratitude for the families that we have been able to support in welcoming a new member to their families. 

We had big dreams for our birth center, but this first year has truly exceeded our wildest dreams. We have already added a midwife to our team and there are now five midwives working at the Reykjavik Birth Center providing maternity care services. We will be adding another midwife in the coming months. The midwives that have joined us on this journey are highly skilled midwives with an extraordinary vision to provide evidence based, women centered and kind midwifery care. We are so grateful for this. 

The future is bright and many new plans are in the works. We are working on educational material for the Ministry of Health to increase access for non-Icelandic speaking families and we are working towards a new application that will be introduced soon. Follow us on instagram and facebook for all the latest news!

Thank you for joining us in our first year!

With best wishes from the midwives at the Reykjavik Birth Center