Screening programmes should not be paused, the health minister has said, after several professional medical bodies warned their viability was under threat in the wake of a recent landmark High Court judgment.

Some members of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists have raised concerns about the preparedness for providing abortion care.

Here's your morning bulletin.

The new head of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists says introducing abortion services cannot be done on a shoestring.

The association representing the bulk of the country’s GPs is holding an extraordinary general meeting tomorrow against a backdrop of no engagement with the Department of Health on how it plans to roll out a doctor-led abortion service.

Women will be able to access abortions here from January, the Taoiseach has said.

Five of Ireland’s most senior obstetricians and gynaecologists say they are “horrified” by comments made by their colleagues about maternal care in Ireland.

The Government’s proposed 12-week access abortion law that it wants to introduce if the Eighth Amendment is removed could be changed to take account of new medical breakthroughs in years to come, an expert has said.

A fertility expert has warned that plans to permit surrogacy in Ireland are too restrictive and that people would continue to seek surrogacy abroad even though it remains a grey area.

A fertility expert has warned that plans to permit surrogacy in Ireland are too restrictive and that people would continue to seek surrogacy abroad even though it remains a grey area.

The former master of the National Maternity Hospital has claimed some consultant posts are now “so unattractive that no applications are received”.

The Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has issued information which it says will provide “factual background” to the debate around the proposal to repeat the Eighth Amendment.

Ireland would have an "epidemic of illegal abortions" and a "massive increase" in maternal mortality" if women were unable to access abortion in the UK, a senior doctor has warned.

Political Correspondent

Hundreds of women are choosing not to have their baby at the Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise (MRHP) because they are “nervous” about the care they might receive.

Women with serious gynaecological problems including incessant bleeding, fibroids and painful sexual intercourse are increasingly turning to their GPs and TDs to lobby for them in a desperate bid to access treatment at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH).

Jazmine Sands is grateful for the occasional telephone call from Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, checking up on how she is doing, more than eight months after her baby girl passed away.

The difficulties that public patients have in accessing 20-week foetal anomaly scans, combined with unfeasibly large gynaecology waiting lists, bolster the case for independent governance of Cork University Maternity Hospital.

A new report on maternity services in the South/South West (SSW) Hospital Group has identified gynaecology services in Cork as its “biggest clinical risk”.

The existing management structure at the country’s newest maternity hospital needs to be replaced and it needs its own CEO and budget to ensure its services are protected.

The chief executive of one the country’s largest maternity hospitals is facing an unprecedented revolt among doctors because of chronic underinvestment in its gynaecology service where 4,193 women are awaiting outpatient appointments.

The war of words in the National Maternity Hospital row grew more entrenched over the weekend, as both sides accused the other of peddling mistruths.

Every hospital in the State should have a formal system for auditing pregnancy outcomes, a HSE-established review recommends.

The guidance document for the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013 has been published on the Department of Health website today.

Doctors have been told to induce birth in early pregnancy, regardless of whether the foetus will survive, if there is clear evidence of an infection likely to cause sepsis and potential death of the mother.

SHE had waved goodbye to nappies and sleepless nights. She thought the menopause would be next. But she’s in her 40s and pregnant. It’s unplanned.

A report published eight years ago about the future of our maternity services recommended that the midlands hospital at the centre of four controversial baby deaths be brought within the governance of the Coombe — but this was not acted upon at the time.

Patient Focus has welcomed Health Minister James Reilly’s remarks that he may ask health service watchdog Hiqa to review maternity services at Portlaoise Hospital.

The Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has moved to assure the public that certain abortion methods described in the Seanad this week will not be used here.

Savita Halappanavar’s grieving family is set to take a medical negligence case against the State in response to her tragic death.

Pregnant women should avoid make-up, shower gel, painting the nursery, plastic containers, and tinned food to minimise harm to their unborn child.

The National Maternity Hospital, which accepts referrals of women and infants from all over the country, is to relocate to the St Vincent’s University Hospital campus in Dublin within the next five years.

The masters of two major maternity hospitals will give evidence today before a parliamentary hearing on proposed changes to abortion legislation.

Anti-abortion Fine Gael TDs have expressed concern at the inclusion of suicidal intent as grounds for termination but a party meeting passed off without “war”, sources said.

The Government is bracing itself for fallout over contentious new abortion laws to deal with the issue of a woman who is pregnant and suicidal.

The Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has called on the Government to allow it “active input” in framing legislation to allow for abortion in Ireland.

Medical experts and pro-choice groups welcomed plans to legislate for abortion in limited circumstances — but stressed that a broader referendum on the issue may still be needed.

The Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is to consult with its members following the publication of the Expert Group Report on abortion law yesterday.

Legislation over the X case would not be medically sound or just, as it would provide for a liberal abortion regime, writes Ronan Mullen

Two of the country’s most senior experts in maternity care expressed divergent views yesterday on whether Irish law is clear about the circumstances in which a pregnant woman is entitled to an abortion.

While abortion issues represent a minefield for legislators, the medical situation is far clearer.

Professor Fionnuala McAuliffe, spokesperson for Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in Ireland: