HSE cuts ‘put expectant mothers’ lives at risk’
Sam Coulter Smith, master of the Rotunda, made the claim after data showed six women died giving birth last year.
This level is the worst in at least 10 years, and comes just weeks after a major report said Ireland’s maternal death rate was likely to be double the official figure.
According to the data, from www.irishhealth.com, six women died at the Rotunda, Holles St hospital, and the Coombe in 2011 while giving birth.
This breaks down as three women at the Rotunda, for the second year running; two at Holles St; and one in the Coombe — a hospital which in September saw two women die after having caesarean sections.
The latest rates mean eight women died at the Rotunda, one of the country’s leading maternity facilities, from 2009 to 2011.
Dr Coulter Smith said women from disadvantaged areas were “over-repres-ented” in the deaths.
While he noted that Ireland remained statistically one of the safest countries in the world to give birth, he said HSE cutbacks were jeopardising women’s safety.
“The more emergencies you have at the same time and the more resources are stretched, the higher the risk to your patients.”
He said key at-risk groups included mothers from disadvantaged backgrounds or where English was not their first language.
He said there may be problems with communication or educational levels in these patients which can make their care more difficult, with staffing cutbacks meaning less time to address these needs.
Dr Coulter Smith said he would like to appoint Polish liaison midwives to overcome some of these issues. However, to date, this has not been allowed.
Among the women who died in the three Dublin maternity hospitals last year was a 32-year-old woman without any grasp of English, who died of cardiac arrest after intense bleeding, 30 weeks into her pregnancy.
Other fatalities included a 40-year-old with breast cancer who died 15 weeks into her pregnancy; and those who died of liver failure, epilepsy, and sudden cardiac arrest.
The six maternal deaths recorded in the three Dublin maternity hospitals last year is the highest in a decade. The next highest mortality rate was in 2010, when four women died.
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