The Health Service Executive (HSE) has launched a review of foetal monitoring at a number of Irish hospitals.
The review comes after the recall of a specific foetal monitor in 2009.
Manufacturer Philips recalled its Avalon Foetal Monitors in 2009 after concerns over the device’s ability to detect foetal traces.
It was issued following a ‘high volume’ of complaints to Philips that certain models were taking inaccurate readings, reports RTÉ.
The recall applied to 11 Irish hospitals.
Among the hospitals in question was the Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise.
The Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise
The deaths of five babies there between 2006 and 2013 were found to be related to issues with the interpretation of foetal traces at the hospital after an RTÉ Primetime Investigates programme highlighted the cases.
A six-person committee from the HSE will now look into how the hospitals responded to the recall after it was issued in 2009, including the human and technological factors that affected monitoring and whether the action taken was enough to address the potential risk to patients.
It will also examine whether there’s still any risk to patients.
There have already been calls for more clarity on why the review is only taking place now.
Labour spokesperson on health Alan Kelly called the news “extremely worrying.”
“It is not clear what has prompted this review all these years on, or why it wasn’t carried out following the deaths of five babies at the Midlands Hospital between 2006 and 2013.
“We need much more detail from Minister Harris regarding this investigation and whether there are any live concerns about the use of these monitors today.
“Women and their families attending maternity hospitals around the country must be reassured that the equipment being used is absolutely safe, and this review must be completed as quickly as possible.”
Mark Molloy, whose son Mark Jr died at the Midland Regional, has said the investigation could have ‘huge’ results.
“The consequences of this could be really significant.
“This could open up all sorts of wounds for them (affected families) and the bigger picture for the HSE.”
The report into Mark Jr’s death found that hospital staff had failed to act on signs of foetal distress.
