682FDC4 - The Icelandic Midwives Association – 100th Anniversary

The Icelandic Midwives Association was founded on May 2, 1919. Originally, twenty midwives formed the association, all them idealistic women who realized that professional bodies were necessary to handle legal issues and support midwives in increasing and maintaining their professional knowledge. The first chairman of the association was Þuríður Bárðardóttir, who chaired it for 27 years. Bjarni Pálsson, the first Surgeon General in Iceland, took office in 1760 and was the first teacher of Icelandic midwives.

In 1761, a Danish midwife, Margrethe Katrine Magnússen, was appointed to take care of clinical teaching. The first midwifery graduate was Rannveig Egilsdóttir, Fellströnd West Iceland, in 1768. When the National Hospital opened in 1930, the Midwifery School was moved there along with practical education. In 1982, a new regulation stipulated that admission to the Midwifery School of Iceland would be conditioned on applicants having a degree in nursing. In 1996, a new midwifery program started at the University of Iceland, and midwives began managing their studies, becoming legally acknowledged primary care providers. The first midwives from the University of Iceland graduated in 1998.