Midwives leaving - Our most vulnerable now at risk

Ireland’s neonatal and maternal death rates have been a source of pride to the medical community in recent years.

More than 996 out of every 1,000 babies born here survive birth and the immediate aftermath and it is rare to have a year where more than one or two mothers lose their lives in childbirth.

Given the record number of births and the increase in older mothers, overweight mothers, multiple births and pregnancies in women with medical conditions that in the past might have ruled out conception, it is a credit to all involved from the primary care professionals to the emergency intervention medics that there are so few delivery room tragedies.