Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 8 November 2017
Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution
Risks to Mental Health: Dr. Anthony McCarthy, National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street
1:30 pm
Dr. Anthony McCarthy:
I see them for up to six months after the birth of a baby. With the small size of my team it would be impossible beyond that. We also sometimes see women even before pregnancy particularly if they have a major mental health problem or mental illness and are concerned about pregnancy and concerned about the medication they are going to have. We do see women even before pregnancy or maybe they have had some particularly difficult stillbirth before or a sudden infant death. Breaking it down, there are so many different categories that I would not give the figures here. We will see people for up to six months afterwards including if it has been a miscarriage or a termination or a stillbirth. We will be compassionate about that as well. It does not necessarily stop exactly at six months.
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