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 do not work in any pregnancy advice centre. I do not do that. The women who come to me are aware from the beginning. They are seeing me because of concerns about their mental health or because they have a mental health issue already or they are incredibly distressed because they have just discovered they have a baby with a fatal foetal abnormality or whatever the circumstances might be. They are very distressed already, so I am there helping them to weigh it up, but those who are seeing me know that already. I cannot say what happens in every single pregnancy advice centre but there certainly should be a general awareness that an abortion presents a risk for the woman.