Ms Cara Steinmetz:

I wanted to add something to what I said about the early days after a baby is born. I am a member of the parenting programme in Down Syndrome Cork. We have been trained such that if parents of a new baby are seeking advice or help on their journey, they can contact Parent Link through Down Syndrome Cork. I speak to new parents as a parent myself and, in general, they try to find their own way in their journey. They might get some information in the hospital but that depends on who they meet at the time. Moreover, if their child has health conditions, the parents are going to be more focused on the health condition first, with Down's syndrome coming second. I have had numerous conversations with parents who have contacted me because they do not know where else to go. We definitely have an opportunity, through the hospitals and through early intervention, to feed better information to new parents.