‘Geographic lottery’ to access maternity care

Pregnant women are being subjected to a “geographic lottery” as a direct result of “outdated, patently unsafe” standards in Ireland’s maternity service.

A leading patient group made the claim after a wide-reaching investigation into Savita Halappanavar’s death.

Among the issues raised in the Health Information Quality Authority (Hiqa) report is that the health watchdog cannot stand over claims that the country’s 19 maternity units are safe for patients.