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Fianna Fáil senator says Donnelly needs to provide clarity on maternity restrictions as protest takes place
Senator Lisa Chambers has called for clarity from the HSE on restrictions still in place in some hospitals. By Orla Dwyer Tuesday 11 May 2021, 5:55 PM Tue 2:50 PM 19,150 Views 23 Comments
Protesters outside the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin.
Image: PA
Image: PA
Updated Tue 5:55 PM
FIANNA FÁIL SENATOR Lisa Chambers has called for clarity from the HSE on the lifting of maternity restrictions in hospitals nationwide.
Her calls come as restrictions remain in place in certain hospitals, with protesters today gathering outside the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin.
Protests staged outside maternity hospitals in Republic as Covid restrictions rumble on Members of the campaign group The Association for Improvements in Maternity Services (AIMS) protest outside the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin against the banning of birthing partners from maternity Hospitals. Picture by Niall Carson/PA Wire James Ward, PA 11 May, 2021 13:12
A series of protests have taken place outside maternity hospitals across the country demanding better services for women.
The Association for Improvements in Maternity Services (AIMS) staged a series of protests at Holles Street and the Coombe in Dublin, as well as hospitals in Donegal and Louth.
The group says they have taken action not just in protest at Covid restrictions that exclude partners from attending hospital with expectant mothers, but at the standard of maternity services in the country generally.
Maternity unit partner ban ‘is human rights violation’
Senator speaks out as campaigners stage protests outside hospitals
Irish hospitals were violating the human rights of expectant mothers by denying them the support of a partner during clinic visits and labour, an Oireachtas senator has said.
Restrictions on partners accompanying pregnant women to hospital were imposed by the country’s 19 public maternity units at the start of the Covid-19 outbreak to stem the spread of the virus.
Fourteen months later the bans remain in place, even though the Health Service Executive instructed the hospitals this week that the restrictions were not national policy.
Women protest outside maternity hospitals over Covid restrictions Birthing partners must be reclassified as ‘essential’, says TD
Tue, May 11, 2021, 18:23 Updated: Tue, May 11, 2021, 18:44
A series of protests have taken place outside maternity hospitals across the State as coronavirus restrictions excluding partners from attending with expectant mothers continue.
The Association for Improvements in Maternity Services (AIMS) held a series of protests at Holles Street and the Coombe in Dublin, as well as hospitals in Donegal and Louth calling for leadership and joined-up thinking to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
Despite a HSE circular calling on hospitals to facilitate partners to attend visits, in many instances restrictions are being kept in place at local level.
LMFM By Marc O Driscoll AIMS is calling for partners to be allowed attend all pregnancy-related appointments.
A protest has taken place outside Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda this afternoon as people call for Covid-19 restrictions affecting expecting couples to be eased.
The Association for Improvements in Maternity Services (AIMS) is calling for partners to be allowed to attend all pre-natal scans and appointments during labour.
Orla Kirby gave birth six months ago and was one of the women who gathered outside the hospital in Drogheda this morning:
However, Ms. Hynes accepts that most restrictions on pregnancy-related appointments have already been lifted at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital: