No definitive plans to lift remaining maternity restrictions in Irish hospitals

Maternity restrictions will likely remain in place for some time.

According to reports, there is no "definitive plan" to lift the remaining restrictions. There has been a huge uproar over the maternity restrictions in Ireland, especially because of the impact they have on expectant women. Speaking about the maternity restrictions, campaigner Linda Kelly said this simply isn't good enough. Linda Kelly expressed her worries about the impact remaining restrictions will have. The Better Maternity Care campaigner said they're trying to stay positive. She commented: "We were really hopeful that we'd be discussing dates and timelines and plans today - maybe even looking at a draft guidance." "And that didn't happen, unfortunately," she told Newstalk. "What I would say is that the plan is still to move ahead, and to lift the restrictions, but it's going to be on a much slower timeline than women and their families want and expect." Not only are the restrictions causing mental strain, but they are also causing trust issues between women and the healthcare system. One woman tweeted about the restrictions. "I don’t understand why, when restrictions are being lifted everywhere, that I can’t have my partner with me at my daughter's birth if he catches covid, but if I have covid and he doesn’t he can be there. "We are really damaging mothers' mental health." https://twitter.com/CClearych/status/1486322556516941830 Another added, "Loads celebrating the end of over 600 days of restrictions. There's no end in restrictions for women with maternity care. Restrictions still exist. Do not forget." A spokesperson for the HSE said they had a constructive conversation with campaigners. "We are actively considering additional feedback and proposals for improvement from all recent engagements." However, they said the health and safety of both women and babies is always their number one priority. They added that hospitals cannot lift restrictions as easily as other industries. You can view a full list of hospital restrictions here.