Hospital key to baby delivery method

The hospital a first-time mum chooses for the delivery of her child is likely to have a huge bearing on whether the infant is born naturally or by caesarean section, according to new birth statistics.

The figures, released by the Health Service Executive (HSE), show the C-section rate for first time mothers varied hugely across the country in 2012, from a low of almost 23% in Sligo General to nearly double that at St Lukes Hospital in Kilkenny, where the rate was over 40%. Nationally, the caesarean section rate stands at 26%.

According to the Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services (AIMS), who obtained the figures under FoI legislation, the data shows a stark contrast in the level of interventions that a first-time mother experiences compared to women who have given birth previously.

Instrumental deliveries and the use of episiotomies (surgical cut) were also very high in most of the 19 maternity units across the country.

More than 35% of first time mothers in Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH), University College Hospital Galway and Waterford Regional Hospital had an instrumental delivery with forceps or vacuum.

The National Maternity Hospital in Dublin and CUMH both had very high rates of episiotomies performed on first time mothers at 39.4% and 38.78% respectively.

Krysia Lynch, co-chair of AIMS Ireland said the figures raised a number of concerns.

“In the first instance, the rates of interventions to first time mothers are worryingly high. It points once again to the inappropriateness of a consultant-led care model for healthy, low-risk mothers.”

Ms Lynch said there was “no medical reason for such high levels of intervention and the effects of these interventions on first time mothers will influence the outcome of any future pregnancies they may have”.

The HSE statistics also record the breastfeeding rates in maternity units.

The Rotunda Hospital in Dublin had the highest percentage of exclusively breastfed babies at 57.2% while the MidWest Maternity Hospital in Limerick had the lowest percentage at 32.1%.

The statistics are available to download from the AIMS Ireland website www.aimsireland.com.