Women putting off having children until they feel they can afford it

Irish Examiner Women's Health Survey 2025: Poll of 1,000 women found 25% will delay having children until they have reached certain financial or career goals

Survey found attitudes to pregnancy services were broadly positive, with good information and accessibility.

A quarter of women surveyed will delay having children until they’ve reached certain financial or career goals. This jumps to 65% of women aged between 18-24.

An Irish Examiner Ipsos B+A survey also found that just under half of mums would like to have more children. Younger mums and those from less affluent backgrounds were most keen to extend their families.

Some 70% of women aged over 35 were not keen to have more children.

The survey of 1,000 women also found differences in experience for pregnant women between pre-natal services and care after they have their baby.

It found attitudes to pregnancy services were broadly positive, with good information and accessibility. However, feedback on postnatal care was more mixed, with one in three saying they had inadequate access to breastfeeding help, for example.

Pre-natal care includes GP visits, hospital or community clinic care, and other supports.

Some 65% of women said access to these supports was good or very good in their local area, with women from across Ireland surveyed. Similarly, 59% said the information they received was good or very good.

However, some women raised concerns about limited options in terms of giving birth, referring to homebirths or birth doulas.

Some 36% of women questioned said access to those alternatives, including delivery without pain medication was poor or very poor.

In answering questions about birth, 68% of women who have given birth rated support and guidance given throughout labour as very good or good.

Communication, however, was raised as a concern, with 10% of women rating communication at this time as poor or very poor, and only 20% saying this was very good.

Gaps were reported in care after pregnancy, despite changes in how these services were offered now.

While 60% of women said care in hospitals just after birth was good or very good, this dropped to 33% when asked about access to breastfeeding or lactation consultant services after returning home.

Some 39% of women said the quality of follow-up care at home from any healthcare worker was fair, poor or very poor.

Just under half (45%) of women aged 25-34 reported concerns about postpartum care, compared to 55% of this age group having positive experiences.

Poor or very poor care after birth was more likely to be reported by women in their 50s and 60s now looking back, the survey showed.

These findings reflect those in the National Maternity Experience Survey in 2020, which identified gaps nationally in postnatal care.

The HSE set up a pilot scheme of post-natal hubs, including in Listowel, Co Kerry, in response to that survey.

The Irish Examiner’s Feelgood supplement celebrates 25 years this year. The survey was carried out by Ipsos B+A for Feelgood, with a nationally representative sample of 1,078 women aged over 16.