Four new hospitals required due to growing level of risk associated with giving birth in Ireland

Four new adequately staffed and fully resourced maternity hospitals are needed to address the growing level of risk associated with giving birth in Irish hospitals, the HSE’s clinical lead in obstetrics and gynaecology has warned.

“On the one hand, demands for services are increasing, as are expectations, but at the same time, the resources we are investing are far too low,” said Professor Michael Turner, director of the UCD Centre for Human Reproduction.

Prof Turner’s concerns about funding and staffing levels in maternity services, which have not kept pace with either the number of births or the risk profile of mothers, are against a backdrop of a fourfold increase in Caesarean section rates over a 30-year period (1984-2014).