Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

There is no doubt that the Covid-19 restrictions around our society have been hard and necessary. It is incumbent on all of us to ensure that the restrictions are fully followed. As we are standing here today, it is quite possible and probable that my county, Donegal, will move into the next stage of restrictions in the coming days, but we will have to wait and see what happens.

There are some restrictions that do not seem to make sense to me and many other people. I am thinking specifically of the restrictions in place in maternity wards. It is nonsensical that partners or husbands of pregnant women are not allowed into the delivery ward with their partner, and doubly so that they are not allowed to attend the 20-week scan and have to sit outside in the car park in many cases. As one constituent put it to me:

Pregnant women throughout the country are currently going through appointments, scans, labour and sometimes even birthing alone in what is arguably the most vulnerable time of their lives. This is especially true for people who get the devastating news that their pregnancies are not viable or those who have to go through a miscarriage without a loved one present. It is unacceptable and not something anyone should have to face alone.

I am expecting my first baby in January and had to receive emergency care at 13 weeks gestation. I was in the gynaecology unit at Letterkenny University Hospital for almost five hours. My frantic partner had to wait in the car park for the duration. He has since missed out on milestone moments like the crucial 20-week anomaly scan.

Another constituent states:

Letterkenny University Hospital are refusing to permit partners to accompany women to their scans and I really do not think that this is justifiable. Anyone can walk through the corridors of the hospital to right outside the door of the foetal assessment unit, which is in the gynae department so it is separate from the maternity wards, and if partners take all the precautions then surely that one staff member carrying out the scan is at no risk. These strict and unreasonable policies are causing such a cruel and unnecessary added anguish to mothers and fathers who are already suffering enough.

This is especially true for people who get the devastating news that their pregnancies are not viable and those who have to go through a miscarriage without a loved one present. The World Health Organization guidelines state that Covid-19 should not impact on a woman’s right to have a partner of her choice with her throughout a pregnancy. It is also true that only allowing the father in at the eleventh hour is putting the man’s needs ahead of a woman’s and does not recognise that she has an internationally recognised human right to have her support present. Will the Taoiseach ensure that maternity wards will make the reasonable decision to allow partners to be present at the most important time in pregnancies, at least at the birth and the 20-week scan, which are the most critical points?

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