Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will diverge from my question slightly to read a letter on some of the issues relating to maternity services:

I am writing to you in regard to the refusal to allow birth partners into the hospital until the labour has progressed to certain levels and the limitations placed on visitation rights after birth. There is also the issue with not having a partner there when receiving bad news.

[...]

The evidence to date from the World Health Organisation states that birthing people need birthing partners as a part of their maternity care service ... It’s not just about visiting rights, it's about compromised care, its delivery of devastating information to birthing people without support, it's making important decisions without your support person, it's about navigating early labour and induction processes alone, it's the experience of post birth trauma and early postpartum struggles from behind a curtain.

Is anything being done to minimise the damage? What can be done to facilitate both parents.

See this speech in context