Hospital awaits inquest before using pool for births

MANAGEMENT at the new €50 million Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) will await the outcome of an inquest in Dublin before deciding if they will allow women to give birth in their planned birthing pool.

An inquest is due to be held following the death of a baby born in a birthing pool at Cavan General Hospital’s Midwifery-Led Unit in late February. The baby was transferred to Dublin following complications but did not survive.

The death led to the suspension of the use of the pool for births but labouring women can still use it for pain relief. Management in the Health Service Executive, North Eastern Area have said the suspension was a “precautionary measure”.

According to head of the CUMH Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Professor John Higgins, the safety and well-being of mothers and babies will be paramount.

“It is important to distinguish between the use of the birthing pool for pain relief during labour and actual birth in the pool. We will await the outcome of the inquest. At all times in the new hospital we would seek to safeguard the safety and wellbeing of mothers and babies while providing as much individual choice as we can,” he said.

When announcing the various facilities at CUMH — which will cater for 7,500 births annually — doctors had said the pool would initially be used just for pain relief but as expertise grew around the pool’s use, they would consider using it for birthing.

The availability of a birthing pool is just one of a number of features at the hospital which are aimed at improving women’s choice during childbirth. The hospital will also have a ‘home-from-home’ room which can be used by people who seek a less-clinical environment during labour.

Cork University Maternity Hospital will have nearly 150 obstetric beds and will take over from the maternity units at the Erinville, St Finbarr’s and Bon Secours Hospitals. It is due to open in March next year.