Advocates back call for independent review into stillbirths at Mayo hospital

External reviews have been commissioned into two stillbirths at Mayo University Hospital in 2023.

Maternity services reform advocates have backed a call for an independent review into stillbirths at Mayo University Hospital (MUH).

On Monday, the Irish Examiner found there were seven stillbirths there in 2023.

The Irish Examiner has learned external reviews have been commissioned into two stillbirths at Mayo University Hospital (MUH) that year. The HSE also conducted additional internal reviews into another five stillbirths there in 2023.

The anomaly and the number of stillbirths prompted a call by HSE Regional Health Forum West board member and Mayo county councillor Michael Kilcoyne for an external review by a team independent of the HSE.

Roisin Molloy, whose baby son Mark was one of a number of healthy babies to die at Portlaoise Hospital between 2006 and 2012 after maternity staff failings there, has also called on Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill to make a clear and “unambiguous” statement about the stillbirths.

The maternity reform advocate, whose son’s death helped lead to Ireland’s first National Maternity Strategy, said: “The avoidable deaths of my son and initially two other healthy babies was sufficient to cause a national outcry at the time, when our story broke on RTÉ in 2014.

“Although the number of babies who died would turn out to be more, those three initial deaths led to the minister and his officials acting almost immediately, and very publicly.

“Indeed, so alarmed was the minister that they got into their car and went to Portlaoise to meet the mothers affected.

“But despite the numbers of deaths in MUH in 2023 far exceeding those that happened in Portlaoise more than a decade ago, there is silence from this minister so far.

“There is also a not very convincing statement from her department and from the HSE.” 

She added: “I have repeatedly stated babies will continue to die for the same reasons as they died at Portlaoise unless someone in authority acknowledges the current system of investigating and reporting is seriously flawed.

“This would not be tolerated in any other area of society where deaths and injuries are recurring for the same identified reasons time and time again. The minister needs to come out and make a very clever and unambiguous statement on MUH as a matter of urgency, and we need to see a wholly independent review panel put in place.” 

'Serious concerns'

Safer Births Ireland, which is also backing the call for an independent external review, said: "The way what has happened at MUH appears to have been handled so far raises serious concerns for us.

"The lack of more detailed information to suggest there is little or nothing to be seen here simply does not tally with the anomalies around the hospital's perinatal mortality rate for 2023.

"The lack of any comment from the minister also seems to suggest everything is grand, and that — again — there is nothing to be seen here.

Our group is only too aware that nothing is what it seems when it comes to the health service and its repetitive failure to sufficiently learn from mistakes that are being made.

"If there really is nothing whatsoever to be learned from what has happened at MUH, we would prefer to get that assurance from a review team made up of people with no ties to the HSE."

Maternity charity Aims Ireland chairperson Krysia Lynch said: “The latest revelations from Mayo maternity unit beg many questions as to the safety and public accountability of our maternity service.

“A transparent independent inquiry into all of these incidents is required to understand what is going wrong in our maternity units."

Johan Verbruggen, who helps run Erb’s Palsy Ireland, said: “Expectant mothers deserve complete disclosure of all information about the circumstances, and in a timely manner.

“The HSE must do everything in its power to understand the cause of the stillbirths in Mayo.

“With complete transparency, they must tell the families what happened, and not shy away from any failings or shortcomings that they may identify.” 

He added: “I would agree with Cllr Kilcoyne’s call for a root-and-branch review by an expert or a team of experts practising outside the HSE.”