3 disease outbreaks in mother and baby home had 100% infant death rate

Three separate diphtheria outbreaks among infants in one of the country’s mother and baby homes had 100% mortality rates.

The revelation is contained in a 1945 report in the Irish Medical Journal concerning the prevalence of diphtheria in infants in the Sean Ross Abbey mother and baby home operated by the Sacred Heart Sisters in Tipperary.

The report, co-written by county medical officer for Tipperary North Riding, Dr JB O’Regan, lists seven diphtheria outbreaks between 1935 and 1941.