Dublin Lord Mayor Hazel Chu has been hearing from mothers-to-be about the difficulties of facing scans without the support of a partner, which can be particularly challenging when they receive bad news.
Partners are currently only allowed to enter the wards once active labour begins.
The Mayor said the mental health of pregnant women must be considered: “It is not just the physical health of people who are pregnant that we need to look at, it’s also the mental health.
Been in contact with Master of National Maternity Hospital on below issue & have asked for restrictions of not allowing partners to attend to be lifted. He assures me he will revert with update. I will also be contacting the other maternity hospitals on Monday with same request. https://t.co/AWOdzaEYgq
— Hazel Chu (@hazechu) September 5, 2020
“It’s a huge strain to not have that support there when you’re going through a pregnancy or after giving birth because it’s one of the most vulnerable and challenging times of your life, and it’s made even more challenging by the circumstances we are under.”
“No one is saying that there shouldn’t be restrictions if there is a requirement. What we are asking for is a review and to understand why they are still in place and if they’re not fit for purpose now, then we need them to be reviewed and lifted,” Ms Chu said.
One man said his wife was left waiting alone all day for a scheduled c-section as he was not permitted to enter the ward: “It wasn’t too bad for me, I had the car.
“But I saw another father outside and he was after travelling... an hour and a half on the bus to get to the Rotunda and then he had to sit outside for hours as well in the rain, he’d nowhere to go.
“He couldn’t go too far from the hospital because they give you a 10 minute window for you to get up to the Labour ward, get your scrubs on and down to theatre.”
