'My kids were worried about me getting it': Meet the frontline mothers fighting Covid-19

"It’s phenomenal what they pick up. For a little boy of four to be obsessed with handwashing it’s not normal." In honour of Mother’s Day,  four hospital employees chat about the challenges the past year has brought to them as mums

Aideen Cahill, who works at Waterford University Hospital as an ICU and critical care physiotherapist, with a photograph of her sons Daire, Conor and Eoin. Picture: Patrick Browne

It feels more important than ever to celebrate our mammies, following a turbulent year where they’ve been needed like never before. And, with more than 76% of EU healthcare workers being female, it's likely that plenty of Irish mothers working on our frontlines will be celebrated this weekend.

Aideen Cahill will be marking Mother’s Day quietly at her home in Waterford this Sunday with her three sons Daire (seven), Eoin (10), and Conor (13), far from the PPE gear she's been donning while working as a physiotherapist in University Hospital Waterford’s ICU and Covid wards.