Ms Liz McDermott:

I agree that Ms Claire Cullen-Delsol's story was extremely difficult to hear. We share that common ground. We had the bumps that people commented on and we did not have answers to give. It was traumatic. She had supports, but not of the professional kind. When I talk about support, I mean support in dealing with that kind of experience.

The Deputy is right about it being harrowing. When one has a difficult pregnancy, there is no easy way out. It is traumatic and painful and there is a great deal of emotion.

However, in my experience, while after John was born I had moments of extreme sadness when I looked at him and thought of all the things he could not do, I had the consolation of knowing I was doing my best for him. This was his life and this was how it had to go for him. I do not like the idea of any woman suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, and I think that is avoidable if she is supported properly and fully in the way she endures and suffers that. Part of this would be just going through one's pregnancy and facing the world and facing people.

I will tell the committee an awful story. My baby was nine days old, and I remember going around Superquinn, as it was at the time. I had him in a flat pram with a blanket, so all that could be seen was the head, and he was asleep. A woman - I did not know who she was; she was one of those ladies in supermarkets who loves coming up to new babies - came up to me, literally pulled the blanket back and just stood there in shock and said nothing. I felt so invaded. My privacy was invaded and I just ran away. That is people. We all have these stories and experiences. I think people like this kind of experience of people coming together to support one another. There is a kind of emotional propping up of one another that needs to happen, and women who have gone through these kinds of pregnancies can do that. I do not think abortion takes any of that away, and the trauma and invasiveness of abortion can almost contribute to a worse mental outcome, perhaps. I do not have medical data to back that up, but sometimes people say they felt stronger because they did the right thing, did right by their baby and kept going with it. There is a strength to be derived from doing that, and that support is still the answer.