Male-dominated labour practices are disempowering women

TWO BABIES born late last year in Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe have died. Seven families in all have had their babies referred for “brain cooling” because of suspected “apoxia” — lack of oxygen to the brain — during their births at the hospital.

And the inappropriate use of artificial oxytocin to induce or speed up labour is among the possible contributing factors which an independent enquiry will study.

Eight years ago another suspicious spike in baby deaths began, this time at the Midlands Regional Hospital in Portlaoise, when four babies died.