Campaigners claim maternity restrictions are still too much

However, campaigners who have been protesting restrictions on maternity care over the last number of weeks have criticised the new rules, saying they still don’t go far enough and will continue to put undue stress on pregnant women.

As part of the new guidelines, birthing partners can attend with ‘women in labour’ and can attend a caesarean section done under regional anaesthesia.

They may also visit the maternity unit at UHG for two one-hour periods per day, between 2pm and 3pm, and from 7pm to 8pm.

Parents of an infant in the neonatal intensive care unit may visit, one parent at a time. However, fathers are limited to two hours per day. A partner or support person may also attend for dating and anomaly scans.

City centre resident and member of the Irish Birth Movement, Yvonne Aherne, told the Galway City Tribune that the limitations on fathers and birthing partners continued to be too stringent, and that the ‘in labour’ element of the guidelines left them open to interpretation.

She said that despite the ongoing rollout of vaccines, no extra allowances were being made for partners who had been inoculated.

“Women’s labours are becoming more complex because they are stressed. A lot of women are saying they are not going to the door of the hospital until they are ready to push and we don’t know what repercussions that could have,” said Ms Aherne.

The term ‘visiting’ was not appropriate, she continued, as fathers and birthing partners were providing vital supports for mothers at their most vulnerable and while they were now allowed attend for the birth, there was still very tight constraints on them afterwards.

“None of this seems to be guided from medical indicators – it’s not guided by advice from NPHET, from the HSE, the Department of Health or the World Health Organisation,” said Ms Aherne.

Women were being put through unnecessary trauma by being forced to go through labour alone in many circumstances, she said, while fathers were being unfairly excluded – all of which was creating an unhealthy environment at a time when women were very vulnerable. This is a shortened preview version of this article. To read the rest of the story, see this week's Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.