Home births ‘won’t be an option’ west of Bandon

THE HSE’s new recommendation on home births – which excludes women who live 30 minutes from their nearest hospital – effectively means that having a home birth will not be an option for many West Cork women.

That’s according to Deputy Holly Cairns who has called on the Minister for Health to intervene to ensure continued access to home birth services for women living in the area.

‘The HSE’s analysis is based on the distance between a family home and the nearest acute maternity hospital. If accepted, it would represent a blatant failure of the Government’s commitment to a woman-centred approach, as set out in the National Maternity Strategy.

‘This recommendation seems to be a case of the HSE making decisions for women while ignoring the views of midwives. If home birth options are taken away, women living in rural areas will only have limited alternatives.’

Deputy Cairns also pointed out that Cork and Kerry make up over 45% of home births nationally.

‘West Cork in particular needs funding for its own specific midwife-led strategy. It is completely unacceptable there is no maternity or midwife clinic west of Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH),’ she said.

‘As we saw during the pandemic – when maternity restrictions were kept for so much longer than was necessary – women’s healthcare is nowhere near the priority it should be for this Government. I have raised this issue with the Minister but have no confidence that he will stand up for women in rural communities by giving them a choice when it comes to childbirth.’

FF TD Christopher O’Sullivan said the recommendation would exclude anyone  west of Bandon including Skibbereen, Clonakilty, Bantry. 

Deputy O’Sullivan said his sister had had four successful home births.

‘A computer generated graphic could decide which Cork women have the choice in having safe home births or not. This is ludicrous and I will do everything to ensure it doesn’t happen.

‘Every woman in Ireland should have this choice. Let’s increase choices, not remove them.’