Helpline set up after foetus misdiagnosis

THE HSE has set up an emergency helpline after receiving a significant number of calls from pregnant women, concerned they have been incorrectly told they miscarried.

The helpline, which is in place from 9am to 5pm, was established after it emerged staff at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda wrongly told one mother she lost her baby and needed an induced abortion.

The HSE has insisted the incident in July 2009, which was only prevented after new mother Melissa Redmond sought a second opinion from her GP on the eve of the procedure, was “extraordinarily rare”, and has been resolved by an internal hospital report.