Maternity hospitals to be fully compliant on visitor restrictions “in coming week”

If someone is able to drink a pint in a pub then an expectant-mother's partner should be able to be by her side in hospital.

The HSE is confident that maternity hospitals will be fully compliant with visitor restrictions in the coming week. According to the HSE's Colm Henry, the HSE is working with the hospitals to ensure changes are made promptly. "Working with maternity hospitals who are still not compliant with facilitating partners' access. Hopes for full compliance in the 'coming week," Richard Chambers shared. The current guidelines state that a partner can accompany a pregnant woman when she is in labour. They can also have 30-minute post-natal visits and attend the neonatal unit. They may also be present at the anomaly scan. Of the 19 maternity units in the country, only seven are partially compliant and allow partners to attend appointments if the woman has a high-risk pregnancy. Only four units allow partners to join women in the late stage of pregnancy at the emergency department. It is believed there is only one hospital that does not allow partners at early pregnancy appointments. There has been mass uproar over the harsh restrictions. Surely pregnant women and their well-being are far more important than re-opening the local pub? Why is so much focus placed on returning to 'normal' life i.e pubs being open when women are alone when they find out they've lost their baby? There is nothing normal or humane about what pregnant women are being forced to go through, but apparently, it is okay once the pints of Guinness are still being poured. The unbearable stress and isolation of the pandemic are hardly enough for them to carry on their shoulders, but expecting them to attend hospital appointments alone is simply wrong. TD Holly Cairns summed up the reality too many women are facing perfectly. In an op-ed for The Independent, she wrote: "People gathered inside pubs and restaurants yesterday to enjoy a pint, a meal and a chat. Yet today in maternity hospitals all over the country, women will miscarry alone; attend important scans and appointments alone; even give birth alone." If someone is able to drink a pint in a pub then an expectant-mother's partner should be able to be by her side in hospital.