Irish Examiner view: Time to rethink punitive maternity restrictions

Expectant mothers have spoken of how restrictions made their pregnancy journeys and births lonely, stressful, and difficult. File picture: PA

Since March, there has been an intense focus on the end of life but not nearly enough on the start of it. That is understandable, given coronavirus’s devastating effect on our elderly and a rising death toll that has surpassed 1,800.

However, what of the effect on our youngest citizens — the thousands of babies who have come into this strange Covid-19-battered world and their parents who have struggled under punitive restrictions at our maternity hospitals?

Expectant mothers have spoken of how restrictions made their pregnancy journeys and births lonely, stressful, and difficult. While rules vary, women are not allowed to bring partners to ante-natal scans or hospital appointments. In cases where they face life-changing medical news, they are often alone.

Attendance at births has been restricted to an hour before and after labour, denying women essential support during the physical and emotional rollercoaster that is childbirth. Even when it is going well, it is difficult, but what of the many women who have had to endure traumatic labours while their partners anxiously waited for news?

Parent groups have also said that restrictions have denied fathers those crucial first moments to bond with their new-borns.

For a time, we were even in the ridiculous situation where a father could “wet the baby’s head” — that odious phrase from a bygone era — in a nearby pub but could not visit the hospital to see it. The attendant outcry highlighted just now radically attitudes have changed; it is now a given that fathers will be involved every step of the way during a partner’s pregnancy.

Some Opposition politicians have argued that the absence of Covid-19 in maternity hospitals makes it possible to ease restrictions. However, the low rate of the virus among pregnant women is also a reason to keep them — tight controls have succeeded in keeping the disease at bay.

In any case, nothing should be done to undermine medical staff and their superhuman efforts of recent months. It must be acknowledged, too, that some maternity hospitals are willing to change the rules when there are unexpected complications, stillbirths, or loss of pregnancy.

Yet, all that has to be balanced against the fact that a father is as valuable a contributor to the care of a woman in labour as a midwife, an obstetrician, or a nurse. The emotional support of a partner cannot be overstated.

Surely, there is some way to allow fathers to be with their partners while also ensuring patient safety. One maternity hospital is considering the possibility of allowing them a virtual presence at scans. That is a step in the right direction.

Covid-19-testing, the wearing of PPE, and quarantining before the birth — although baby will not necessarily facilitate the timetable — might all be measures to consider.

The new house visit ban takes account of the negative impact cocooning had on elderly people. It includes some very welcome exemptions, such as allowing visits to elderly people or those who live alone. Now, when even tighter restrictions seem likely, it is essential that action is taken to soften the blow on so many expectant mothers and their partners.