Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her reply and her empathy. When things are written in black and white they can seem so stark, particularly during a stressful time. It will be of some relief to so many couples and people that the Minister of State and her colleagues understand. I pay tribute to all our maternity hospitals for their work in keeping the virus out and being so supportive during this difficult time.

I have a real difficulty with the term "reducing footfall". Birth partners should not be considered footfall because they are much more important than that. A Deputy, whose wife is expecting their fourth child in the coming weeks, made the point that his wife would see him as her voice through the whole process, not just during the birth but during the appointments, tough scans and postnatal care. I have spoken often of postnatal depression. Something a psychiatrist tells a new mother might not be remembered. Access post birth is only being allowed to neonatal ICU visits.

I do not want to personalise this but sometimes personalising issues makes it easier to get a message across. For the first five days of my daughter's life, I only saw her through FaceTime. I could not visit the hospital. I do not think that is right. It is not right that women who have gone through a traumatic birth then go through the immediate recovery on their own. I ask the Minister of State to bring this issue back to her officials and through the maternity services. It is not only about the minutes and hours - sometimes many hours - of labour but also the appointments beforehand and the time afterwards. A mother should be accompanied at those times, whether by the baby's father, her partner, wife or mother. No woman should have to go through this alone. We are fighting a vicious global pandemic but we need to get that point across.

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