Dáil debates

Wednesday, 2 June 2021

Maternity Services: Motion [Private Members]

 

10:50 am

Photo of Donnchadh Ó LaoghaireDonnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is much talk at present about things reopening, and rightly so. It is very welcome. I do not oppose it. However, with all these areas reopening, maternity hospitals are still denying access to partners. One can go to shopping centres and, from next Monday, one can have a meal outdoors or go to a museum, yet a partner cannot be present with a woman during the labour and when she is giving birth. What is worse is that the Minister and the Government are trying to present a minimal, tiny level of access as a major reopening. It is a cod. It is presenting the problem as if it has been resolved. Yes, there are some that are even further behind, but in all instances the level of access is totally unacceptable. It is a fraud.

Just before last Christmas, my partner, Eimear, had an emergency appointment with the early pregnancy unit because she was bleeding. I waited outside in the car park, looking up at the window of the early pregnancy unit waiting room. It was as close as I could get. I am glad to say that everything was okay, but we were worried. If it had not been okay, Eimear would have had to face that appointment alone. She would have got that bad, devastating, earth-shattering news alone. The situation is still the same today. If a couple in that situation, worried about the same thing, goes to any hospital today, tomorrow or next week, the partner must stay outside the hospital door. That is an outrage. Whatever about a year ago, hospital staff are now vaccinated. Increasingly, pregnant women are vaccinated and many partners will be vaccinated too before long. That is welcome. Partners and expectant mothers almost always come from the same household and present the same Covid risk. There is no justification.

The South/South West Hospital Group website advice on when a partner can have access when a mother is giving birth says the partner can join after the woman is in strong active labour and soon after birth is kindly asked to leave. Women in labour need support, full stop. The WHO and the chief medical officer say so. The idea that an arbitrary decision on how many centimetres dilated a woman is should dictate when she needs support is ridiculous and outrageous. On the same website there is a link to the Royal College of Midwives report which states that having trusted birth partners present is known to make a significant difference to the safety and well-being of women. Once more, however, they are asked kindly to leave. When a woman has been through all that, and God knows how many hours the labour might have been, and when she needs to rest and recuperate the partner who can help her do that, even for little things like a shower or a rest, must leave. The Minister must stop dragging his heels on this and force action. He must stop presenting these minimal changes as enough. Women need their partners during all the labour, after the birth and at key appointments. Partners are not visitors; they are essential support.

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