Dr. Meabh Ní Bhuinneáin:

The physical infrastructure is quite variable across the country and it is determined very much by the woman-centred and girl-centred care. There is usually separation of early pregnancy services and termination services from ongoing services where women are attending an antenatal clinic and presenting with intended pregnancy and continuing pregnancy. This is not the same in all European countries. In hospital visits in many other jurisdictions, one sees signposting for all women's health services in the same area. In Ireland, traditionally, we divide services by times of day, so we are using multi-function areas that may be for one function early in the morning and another function later in the day. This is not satisfactory to the women and girls using our service and this comes through in patient surveys and in the advisory groups with regard to patient and family engagement in the general hospital setting.

In the women's hospital settings in Ireland, greater attention has obviously been paid to the reception of women and their families in regard to pregnancy. In the general hospital setting, it is harder to differentiate between reception for those coming with physiological problems and socially determined health problems as opposed to those coming with pathology and disease.