Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In closing, I again thank Deputy Connolly and her colleagues for tabling the motion. The quality of our maternity services is, for me, a reflection of the importance we place on women and their infant babies. It is not that long ago that such esteem was not clearly visible, something this House and the country as a whole should not easily forget. As an Irish woman and a mother, I am well aware of how important this issue is and am very happy to be able to contribute to the debate.

As the Minister for Health outlined, this Government is fully committed to delivering better health outcomes for the women of Ireland, not just in terms of maternity care but right across the board. We are determined to ensure that the success achieved so far in women’s health is further progressed and built on for generations of Irish women and girls into the future.

Recent developments, as noted by the Minister, and the very significant funding made available for 2021, certainly build on progress made in women’s health. This includes the ongoing implementation of the national maternity strategy, improvements in screening services and in sexual assault services and the implementation of the sexual health strategy. Key to this progress has been the inclusion of women’s voices. We have seen the very positive contribution of women to the development of the national maternity strategy through its public consultation process and through their inclusion on the steering group that developed the strategy. More recently, the views and experiences of hundreds of women have informed the work of the women’s health task force through its radical listening exercise. The national maternity experience survey has given voice to thousands of women regarding their experience of our maternity services.

Listening to those voices is one thing; it is quite another to understand them and to act. That is why I am very proud of the efforts made by the Government to ensure those thousands of voices have been taken on board. We have, to borrow a phrase, put our money where our mouth is by putting significant funding into women’s healthcare. We heard from the Minister for Health earlier that €7.3 million has been allocated to the national maternity strategy this year. This funding will ensure that there is a renewed focus on delivering the vision of the strategy for our maternity care system. What is equally welcome is the focus on issues that have not always made the headlines, in particular gynaecology with its historically long waiting lists, and endometriosis, a condition that many women have borne silently for years. The investment made in 2021 will significantly enhance capacity in a system that requires further improvements.

It is only in recent years, and in particular since the national maternity strategy was published, that we have seen a deliberate focus on the area of maternity and women’s health more generally. Over that period, we have seen the recruitment of additional midwives, consultants, theatre staff, ultrasonographers and quality and safety managers. However, this year, through funding allocated to the national women and infants health programme, an additional 139 posts will be added to our maternity and gynaecology services, significantly boosting staff numbers. The benefit of this cannot be overstated and will undoubtedly make a very real and tangible difference to the women and families accessing services.

On perinatal mental health, it is important to note that the national maternity strategy firmly recognises the need to provide better supports to women during and after pregnancy. In November 2017, the HSE launched the document, Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Services: Model of Care for Ireland, which supports the actions on mental health outlined in the national maternity strategy. The model of care continues to be rolled out on a hub-and-spoke basis, with funding for the six specialist perinatal mental health hub teams provided to a total of €3.6 million. This funding covers the cost of the full hub teams in each of the six maternity hospitals, and recruitment of the outstanding team members is currently taking place.

An integral component of the model of care is the deployment of a mental health midwife to each of the 13 maternity spoke sites. The newly appointed mental health midwives based in spoke hospital sites work with the local liaison psychiatry services. With 12 of the 13 spoke mental health midwives in place, I am glad that the model of care has progressed significantly.

While I was in opposition, I often noted my disappointment with the slow progress to implement the national maternity strategy. As stated by the Minister, while highlighting that there have been positive developments in maternity services and high levels of compliance against most of the national standards, HIQA’s inspection report raises some concerns about the implementation of the strategy.

I am pleased, however, that the national women and infants health programme is in the process of developing a revised implementation plan with timelines and associated costs. The work being progressed through the programme now, and the timely implementation of that plan, will ensure that the strategy’s vision is fully realised for the benefit of the thousands of women and families who access care every year in our maternity hospitals and units.

As part of the Government’s broader focus on promoting women’s health, including the implementation of the national maternity strategy, the programme for Government includes a commitment to the co-location of all remaining stand-alone maternity hospitals with adult acute hospitals. The development of the new national maternity hospital on the Elm Park campus will be the first of these relocation projects to be progressed.

I understand that concerns have been raised regarding the ownership and clinical independence of the new national maternity hospital. I am advised that the corporate and clinical governance arrangements for the new maternity hospital are set out in the Mulvey agreement, however. The agreement provides for the establishment of a new company. that is, national maternity hospital at Elm Park designated activity company, DAC, which will have clinical and operational, as well as financial and budgetary, independence in the provision of maternity, gynaecology and neonatal services. The Mulvey agreement ensures that a full range of health services will be available at the new hospital without religious, ethnic or other distinction.

As the Minister for Health emphasised earlier, these overriding objectives will be copper-fastened through the legal framework that is being developed. The Minister has also committed to seeking Government approval for the legal framework once it has been finalised.

Progressing with the national maternity hospital relocation project is critical to providing women with the necessary infrastructure and environment to enable the delivery of a modern, safe, quality maternity service for women and infants. This is key to achieving the vision of the national maternity strategy.

I will conclude by reiterating to the House that this Government remains fully committed to renewing its focus on the development of maternity services through the implementation of the national maternity strategy. This Government has started as it intends to continue by providing investment in maternity and women’s healthcare services, and it will continue to support the national women and infants health programme in progressing those goals.

I agree wholeheartedly on a personal note with everyone who spoke about the challenges faced by mothers who are delivering babies in hospital or who are going for their 20-week scan. As a mother of three who had three induced deliveries, I believe it is essential that husbands, partners or a family member be allowed to be present at this most joyous occasion. Unfortunately, however, as has been stated, for some the news can sometimes be sad and devastating. The support of having a loved one present cannot be underestimated. One can understand why restrictions had to be put in place when we were having 8,000 cases of Covid-19 per day during January and February. As we start to exit Covid-19 and with 50% of the adult population now vaccinated, however, I appeal to hospitals to adhere to the advice of the CMO, the HSE and the Minister. It is very important that on this most joyous occasion for many mothers, which can be very upsetting and traumatic for others, women would be allowed to have their partners present as much as possible during the births and scans.

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