Hospitals may refuse tests to home-birth mothers

MATERNITY hospitals in the south may refuse to carry out blood tests and ultrasound scans on pregnant women who are cared for by independent midwives.

A spokeswoman for the Southern Health Board (SHB) said discussions were underway among consultants at the Erinville Hospital and St Finbarr’s Hospital in Cork city with a view to following the lead set by Dublin’s maternity hospitals. If the policy change is implemented, Tralee General Hospital in Kerry will also follow suit.

A spokeswoman for the SHB said it would be “a medical decision”.

Earlier this year, the National Maternity Hospital at Holles St, the Coombe and the Rotunda adopted a policy of not carrying out bloods tests or scans on home-birth mothers, citing problems with insurance.

The consultants claimed the hospital could ultimately be held responsible for any subsequent problems in the birthing process because the women had spent some time in their care.

The National Home Birth Alliance is seeking a judicial review of this “vicarious liability” argument.

The Association for the Improvement of Maternity Services (AIMS) said any decision to cut treatment of pregnant women simply because they opted for a home birth “would be appalling”.

“It is totally inequitable. Why should women who opt for a home birth be discriminated against,” said AIMS representative Maura O’Regan.

She also questioned the wisdom of Cork consultants copying their Dublin colleagues, particularly the National Maternity Hospital, which Ms O’Regan says operates a “production line system”.

“It is based on the Henry Ford model where women are seen as cars and everything is described in industrial language. Holles St is based on haste and on keeping the conveyor belt moving. It is rather pitiful that Cork hospitals are being so slavish in considering following the lead set down by Dublin.”

The National Home Birth Alliance has long argued that refusals by consultants to do tests and scans for home-birth mothers is part of a turf war, aimed at stamping out independent midwives.

The association is giving its full support to four women who will next week mount a legal challenge to a High Court decision which ruled that health boards did not have to provide a home-birth service. The appeal will be heard in the Supreme Court on Tuesday.