Help victims of symphysiotomy

It saddens me to write this letter, however, it involves a lot of ladies in Irish life today. Lately, we have been exposed to the horror stories of the Magdalene Sisters, especially in Cork, and how they treated young girls in their so-called convents.

This brings me to another very sensitive matter, the Survivors of Symphysiotomy. This operation was performed on women who were giving birth and for various reasons had their pubic bone operated on to make way for the delivery of the baby.

My mother was one of these victims in the late 1950s in St Finbarr’s Hospital in Cork. She was 24 years of age and a very healthy married woman.