Maternity care in Ireland has seen \u201ca lot of change\u201d over the last decade, despite discontent and public protests at the lack of access to some services, the HSE\u2019s top obstetrician has said.<\/p>\n
Dr Cliona Murphy, national women and infants health programme clinical director, said trends from the National Maternity Strategy 2016-2026 are more visible now.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople will always have different perspectives on things. One argument is we\u2019re not doing enough. However, if you look at the facts and if you say there\u2019s been no change in Ireland for 20 years, that\u2019s clearly not the case,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Change in those years is leading to better options, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at the investment in maternity, there\u2019s been \u20ac28m in new development funding from 2016,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\n That has offered a choice of pathways, an expansion of midwifery-led care services in the supported care pathway. That\u2019s a big difference from 10 years ago.\n <\/p>\n
\u201cMidwifery-led antenatal clinics are held across all 19 units with 174 clinics per week, and midwifery care is available in 59 community locations.\u201d<\/p>\n
She described this as \u201ca big push to have care closer to the person\u2019s home\u201d.<\/p>\n
Protests led by the Irish Birth Movement<\/a> outside the D\u00e1il last week called for birth centres alongside maternity hospitals, as promised in the strategy.<\/p>\n Dr Murphy pointed to 13 new home-from-home rooms, describing them as \u201can alternative to birth centres\u201d now.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are within the hospital, but a much softer environment. They have nicer rooms, more homely, not as clinical as they would have been before\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n She also highlighted an increase in the use of birthing pools. She is aware of 13 such pools in hospitals.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes the space where you think you want to put a pool doesn\u2019t support it,” she said, adding there had been “infrastructure barriers”.\u00a0<\/p>\n A training programme is in place, and she welcomed \u201ca new waterbirth guideline coming out soon which will support those units which maybe haven\u2019t had as much experience with this”.<\/p>\n