For too long, mothers have given birth in buildings unfit for purpose

The problem is we all know the Church plays a very long game, and sticks, religiously, to its beliefs, writes Alison O’Connor

If God is involved in our maternity services in Ireland, the real miracle is so many babies are born safely given the conditions women are giving birth in. The buildings that are home to the three main Dublin maternity hospitals — which deliver around 30,000 babies annually — have a combined age of 433 years.

If you take out the youngest of the three — the Coombe Hospital — where a new building was opened in 1967, the combined age of the others is 383 years, which puts the Rotunda Hospital building at 260 years old and the National Maternity Hospital Holles St at 123 years.