We started our day today by visiting the Center of Public Health at the University of Iceland. We heard from three speakers. The first speaker taught us about her study on how the trauma faced by women in Iceland throughout their lives affects not only their mental health but their physical health as well. The second speaker taught us about the prevalence of c-sections across the world and how Iceland has a low c-section rate and a low maternal and infant mortality rate. Studies suggest that there is a strong correlation between these two factors. Our last speaker taught us about prenatal care and her study on group prenatal care.

Later in the afternoon we visited the Landspitali hospital. We heard from the educational director of the hospital who taught us about the Icelandic healthcare and wealth fare system. It was very interesting to compare not only the US and Iceland but also Canada and Iceland. Our second speaker was the head midwife for the hospital who shared further details about Iceland’s maternal healthcare. One interesting fact is that Iceland is one of the three safest countries to have a baby in because the infant mortality is 1 in 1,000.