At the turn of the twentieth century, Norway, like many other countries, experienced a decrease in mortality and a substantial increase in the number of health personnel. In order to assess how these changes were connected, we investigate the relationship between health personnel and mortality using data at the medical district level (\(N=106\)) covering a period of 34 years. We find a large and robust effect of midwives on reduced maternal mortality in rural areas, but no effect in urban areas. No clear effect is found for other types of health personnel or on infant mortality. The results demonstrate the important role played by public health investments during the period.

二十世纪初，挪威与许多其他国家一样，死亡率下降，卫生人员数量大幅增加。为了评估这些变化之间的关系，我们使用覆盖34年的医疗区级别（\（N = 106 \））的数据调查了卫生人员与死亡率之间的关系。我们发现助产士对降低农村地区产妇死亡率具有巨大而有效的作用，而对城市地区则没有作用。没有发现其他类型的卫生人员或婴儿死亡率有明显影响。结果表明，在此期间公共卫生投资发挥了重要作用。