Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Today is International Day of the Midwife. It is important to acknowledge the incredible work of our midwives. Unfortunately, the role of midwives in Ireland is greatly under-resourced. In many jurisdictions, midwife-led home births are the norm, but in Ireland, in some situations, women are forced into hospitals. In CHO 1, for example, covering Cavan, Monaghan, Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim, the HSE facilitated four home births between 2015 and April 2022. I repeat that it was four. Additionally, the HSE banned water births in 2020. The Community Midwives Association, CMA, and the Midwives Association of Ireland, MAI, have called this ban non-evidence-based, unethical and inequitable. Those organisations are calling for the immediate reintroduction of water birthing. What is the Government doing to support midwives and midwife-led home births for those who want them? Will the Minister for Health instruct the HSE to lift this ban on water births, with immediate effect?

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