Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Friday, 17 May 2013
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children
Heads of Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill 2013: Public Hearings
10:30 am
Dr. Tony Holohan:
To clarify, every inpatient obstetric unit where women are looked after and where antenatal mental health issues such as antenatal and postnatal depression arise are capable of providing a mental health service. There is no obstetric unit in which a woman might find herself in which access to a mental health service is not possible. It is our intention that all of the public obstetric units where such services could be provided would also be capable of providing mental health services.
That is the policy intent of the heads of the Bill. There may well be little aspects, technicalities, that we can look at to achieve that policy intention.
No comments