Non-national baby boom ‘pushes system to the brink’

WOMEN arriving to Ireland on the verge of giving birth are “a tragedy waiting to happen”, according to the master of one of the country’s largest maternity hospitals.

Births to non-nationals have more than doubled in the last three years and as many as 15% of non-national expectant mums turn up either in labour or just 10 days before giving birth, new figures show.

Master of Maternity at the Rotunda Hospital’s Dr Michael Geary said some women are travelling from abroad very late in their pregnancy. He said women from outside of Ireland are landing at our ports and airports and heading straight for hospital. “It’s all just a tragedy waiting to happen,” he said.

A baby boom is already putting many of the nation’s maternity hospitals under strain. Births in Ireland have grown by almost 6,000 from 54,789 in 2000.

But the added pressure created by expectant mums turning up unexpectedly, as well as language barriers and tense, strained situations caused by cultural differences, is pushing the system to the brink, Dr Geary warned.

The situation was supposed to improve with the Supreme Court ruling in January which meant parents of babies born in this country were not automatically entitled to stay here.

“It has gotten worse. Since January, we’ve seen an increase in the numbers of non-nationals coming in the very late stages of pregnancy. About 15% of the non-national group turns up in labour, without any prior warning. More still are turning up about 10 days before delivery. It doesn’t give us a lot of time to try to manage births and give mothers and their babies the service they need,” he said.

The Irish Refugee Council said it was incensed by comments being made about non-nationals in some medical circles. Its policy officer, Itayi Viriri, described the comments as “the worst form of scapegoating” he has seen. “The health service has its own problems, without blaming its troubles on immigrants.”

Figures from the National Maternity Hospital on Holles Street show births to non-nationals in the first seven months of this year account for one in five births. Almost 3% of non-nationals turn up in labour and almost 7% give just 10 days notice to the unit.

Data from across the country also shows a similar pattern. There has been a two-fold increase in the number of non-national births in the Midwestern Health Board area over the period 2001 to 2002.

In 2001, there were 4,042 births at the Regional Maternity Hospital in Limerick city, which covers North Tipperary, Clare, Limerick city and county. Of these 4,042 births, 179 were to non-nationals.