900 fewer choose to have babies in Portlaoise hospital

Hundreds of women are choosing not to have their baby at the Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise (MRHP) because they are “nervous” about the care they might receive.

The annual birth rate at the hospital has fallen by 900, following revelations three years ago that five babies died at the hospital over a number of years due to suffering lack of oxygen.

Yesterday, the HSE published its Maternity Clinical Complaints Review. The review came about after the broadcast of RTÉ’s Prime Time Investigates programme ‘Fatal Failures’ in January 2014.