Irish Examiner view: Maternity services restrictions need to be lifted

Women and pregnant people gather outside the Coombe Hospital.

In the UK, the NHS has issued new guidelines to say pregnant women should be allowed to have one person with them during scans, appointments, labour, and birth.

That person, it said, should be regarded as “an integral part of both the woman and baby’s care”, not just a visitor.

Isn’t it time that the health authorities here issued the same guidelines? 

Campaigners, who protested outside the Coombe maternity hospital in Dublin earlier this week, have outlined how continuing restrictions in some hospitals have led to serious distress for women and their partners.

The HSE has listened to some of those concerns and now allows partners to attend a pregnant woman’s anomaly scan, at about 20 weeks. 

It is time now to act on the other concerns and address the disparities between hospitals, some of which continue to implement a strict no-visitor policy after birth.

Midwives and other medical professionals have voiced concerns. And they must be listened to, but they must be balanced against the ongoing stress and difficulties facing pregnant women and their partners.