Hospital reaches record number of births

A record number of babies were born in the Coombe Women's Hospital last year, with 7,848 babies being delivered.

This was the highest number on record since 1972.

22% of deliveries were to women whose country of origin was not Ireland while no maternal deaths were recorded in the hospital in 2003.

Dr Sean Daly, Master of the Coombe said today: "2003 was an exceptionally busy year for the Coombe and great credit goes to all staff for providing and maintaining high standards of professional care to our patients in such a busy environment."

The Coombe is the largest provider of gynaecological services in the State and last year continued to see increasing demand for these services with 5,054 patients undergoing gynaecological surgery.

The hospital has responsibility for the largest health area in the country covering the South-west of Dublin, South County Dublin, South Kildare and West Wicklow with a population of 515,568.