Pressure of baby boom takes its toll on maternity hospital

THAT Ireland is in the grip of a baby boom is indisputable – figures from the Central Statistics Office this week show births have reached a 110-year high.

But while new babies are something to celebrate, the upshot of an increase in the numbers being born is significant extra pressures on the country’s four maternity hospitals.

Last month, Dublin’s Rotunda Hospital was in the news when it emerged the first appointment a pregnant woman could get with a consultant was at seven months.