Ms Angela Dunne:

When an incident happens, there is a debriefing locally. There is a HSE policy. There is also the provision of employee assistance. Our colleagues in the INMO are very supportive of our staff and help them when drawing up their statements. It is very difficult when an adverse event happens. This is where the directors of midwifery come in. The level of support for their colleagues is huge. This does not just go on for one or two months; it can go on for two years, while all of the investigations are being carried out. It has a huge impact on recruitment because when someone is working alongside colleagues, he or she sees that they are quite distressed as a result of an incident occurring. There is a huge amount of work to be done on this issue.

Community services were mentioned. One of the issues at which many maternity units is looking is the transfer home. The level of postnatal dissatisfaction is very high during the first ten days after a mother leaves hospital. There are some very good practices throughout the country, where for the first ten days midwives go to support mothers. This just does not happen for those who are at low risk but also for those who are high risk. There was a tendency originally when the service started to visit mothers who were low risk, but ladies who have had a caesarean section need more support. I want to make the committee aware of this.