Nem Kearns:

There was an NDA report a few years ago on experiences of maternity services, which was great to see. It looked at choice in maternity and postnatal support and found that disabled women were far less likely to be offered choice and that they did not feel they were treated with equal respect or given equal access to information about their pregnancy and options within it.

I am not aware of any examination or tracking of obstetric violence. I have heard personal anecdotal accounts of it. I am not aware of there being any official monitoring or reporting of it. That does not mean it does not exist, just that I am not aware of it. If it exists, it would be great if that information were available to organisations such as Disabled Women Ireland.

We were not consulted on the national maternity strategy and, to be honest, I have not had a chance to read it in depth. In my scan reading, I did not see a strong focus on the specific needs of disabled people - the fact that there is a significantly higher maternal mortality rate among disabled women and those with pre-existing conditions - or on the other issues identified in the NDA report.

We would very much like to see that being a focus under any national maternity strategy and in the provision of services. We should not just look at the hospital setting but look at the ongoing care for that family in the community.

Another about which my colleagues in the CDLP spoke very eloquently concerns institutionalisation, a mother and baby home-type situation and the dangers of that in an institutional setting. We need to place everything in the broader social context. I know a number of families that were able to cope with the lack of accessible accommodation before having children. However, after having children, they were unable to raise a family in a house or apartment that was completely inaccessible to them. This pressure is forcing people into inappropriate accommodation or potentially more institutionalised or congregated settings when they do not need to be there. There is simply not enough accessible accommodation. We always need to try to avoid siloing and really push on all avenues. We need a higher percentage of accessible housing in all new builds, be that through social housing or in the private market.

Family resource centres do a fantastic job. We had what felt like a very productive conversation with the parenting support unit in the Department in 2021. That could be a very useful avenue to continue exploration with where disabled parents and those with lived experiences are able to come together and have conversations on supports that helped, supports that would have helped had they existed and how those can best be delivered and targeted at families that need them.