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ALMOST 200 NEW or prospective parents wrote to the Minister of Health between August and October calling for the restrictions on maternity hospitals to be lifted.
The partners were unable to attend the 20-week anatomy scan for most of 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions before many hospitals reversed the position. Couples were also allowed to attend the later stages of labor and during delivery.
Some hospitals allow couples visits for short periods of time in the days after delivery, but others do not allow visits. With the number of Covid cases on the rise, it is understood that maternity hospitals are reviewing their policies again.
Yesterday Rotunda, one of Dublin’s leading maternity hospitals, announced that couples will no longer be allowed to attend the 20-22 week pregnancy scan.
A spokesperson said the “very difficult decision” was made “due to the increase in community-acquired Covid-19 infections and the move to Level 5 restrictions.”
The announcement comes a month after a rally was held in front of the Coombe Maternity Hospital to protest a Covid-19 restriction that prevents partners of women from being in wards during full labor and after delivery. Birth.
Under the Freedom of Information Act, TheJournal.ie may reveal that between August and October, more than 166 letters and emails were sent to Stephen Donnelly asking him to lift the restrictions.
It is understood that many more were received in the run-up to the end of 2020.
In addition to citizens, DT, ministers, MEPs and councilors of all parties also sent correspondence to the office of the Minister of Health, seeking an update on what was being done in this regard.
Emotional and angry emails seen by TheJournal.ie, detail how women have been terrified of going through labor alone, without their partners.
Others spoke about the heartbreaking stories of being told they had had a miscarriage when they were sitting alone in a maternity hospital, with their partners abandoned in parking lots, not knowing what was going on.
In an email, an expectant mother detailed “one of the most disturbing moments of my life.”
Go to the hospital alone
She had a hemorrhage at eight weeks pregnant and had to go to the hospital alone.
He explained how the women were in hospital waiting rooms without their partners, receiving the most disturbing news.
Another email sender said: “Is this the sure case that ‘only women’ care about what they are going through? An attitude that we have seen for too long in this country ”.
She added: “I’m sure if men gave birth, this wouldn’t even be up for debate.”
Another expectant mother wrote to Donnelly saying:
I’m facing one of the most life-changing experiences imaginable, and I have to do it alone. On the field next to the hospital, I can hear a sports game, where the players cannot practice social distancing. Yet I (and every other woman in the country) sit unsupported while at our most vulnerable point.
She explained that pregnancy is an “emotional roller coaster full of constant worry, made even more difficult by the mother’s main support system leaving.”
‘Totally ignored’
He said mothers in Ireland feel “totally ignored”.
I am absolutely disgusted that you have the audacity to reopen those damn pubs when my husband cannot attend our 12 week exam. What’s the point of that? You are an absolute disgrace for the role and title of Taoiseach.
Another wrote to the minister telling her that she thought the rules were “extremely unfair and unfair to our family, as we have followed them and are following all the rules since March.”
“We lost a baby last year and it has been extremely stressful for me to go to appointments on my own all year. I beg of you to help me allow you to visit me while I’m in the hospital, please, ”he said.
A woman who is expecting twins said it is an extremely stressful time, and said having partners in the hospital is a necessity rather than a luxury.
Parental anger
A parent wrote to the minister about his anger at the restrictions.
He said they were somewhat “lucky” because they were able to afford a private scan, which allowed them to attend both, compared to the rules set by many public hospitals.
“I was with my wife when the sad news was discovered that our baby’s heart was not beating and therefore I was able to comfort her and absorb the news myself in real time.”
The father added:
“I understand that these are unprecedented times, but I am struggling to understand how it is possible and acceptable for a person to get on public transport, meet up with their friends, and if they wish, take a pub crawl, but I can’t put myself all the necessary PPE and I go from the main door of the maternity hospital, directly to the corresponding room with my wife and to be with her at this difficult time for us.
Where are the priorities of this government when the procedures that allow the first prevail over the second? As I said before, we are the lucky ones, we cannot help but think of the hundreds or thousands of women who had to discover such terrible news for themselves.
The role of a father
Another parent said that husbands and partners play an important role in the birthing process and are often the woman’s voice when things go wrong or when they are experiencing a lot of pain, bringing comfort to their loved ones.
Another expectant mother for the first time said in an email to the minister:
“It was absolutely horrible to be lying there just receiving this news. I would like to know when
you will be allowed to share this with me. Of all the precautions you are taking for Covid-19, I feel this is a cruel and unnecessary one. Limit it to both parents and no one else if necessary, but please reconsider having the parents attend. It is a special milestone that they are missing. “
In a letter sent to the Taoiseach and sent to the health minister, a woman said that she and her husband were delighted to learn that we were pregnant with their second child.
“We waited patiently for our eight-week scan to arrive and excitedly went to my consultant’s office for my first scan. What started out as pure joy quickly turned to confusion, fear and sadness when there was no heartbeat and I was told that she was only six weeks and two days old.
At the time when I needed my husband the most, I was alone crying in my doctor’s office and they asked me about the dates and how sure I was that I was eight weeks old. They told me to wait two weeks and come back where there was only a 50/50 chance that there might be a baby, alone again. It was at this appointment that I was given the devastating news that my pregnancy was not viable and that I was going through a miscarriage.
He said miscarriages are very common and “are the most heartbreaking and heartbreaking thing to go through.”
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“Because of these ridiculous measures, we have to go through them alone,” he said.
‘Crying in my bed, alone’
For this woman, a D&C, a procedure to remove tissue from inside the uterus, was required.
“I was just crying in my bed wanting nothing more than to hug my partner and cry
with him for our lost son. “
One woman said that having a partner there during the most important moment in a person’s life is not a luxury.
One woman said the restrictions were because the cure was worse than the disease.
“It is unacceptable to continue to show so little respect for vulnerable women and new families. I am not asking for visitors, I am simply asking that the couple be allowed with the mother from induction or early labor and allowed to visit the postpartum ward to provide much needed support to these mothers, many of the who have had significant abdominal problems. surgery.”
“I hope you are seeking a review of these restrictions, otherwise you are directly responsible for continuing to allow women to live in fear of the happiest times of their lives.”
Several politicians such as the Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan also wrote to Stephen Donnelly, expressing concern about restrictions at maternity hospitals and highlighting the high level of correspondence they were receiving from voters.
Hourigan was just one of the politicians who asked the Minister of Health to consider the impact of the current restrictions on pregnant people and requested that he consider a review together with hospitals and care providers.
She noted that Dublin Green Party Mayor Hazel Chu had received hundreds of correspondence from those accessing maternal care and that they had spoken about the “very real impact that the absence of a partner can have on their well-being.”
“The World Health Organization supports the presence of partners during prenatal care and labor, as research shows that they can improve outcomes,” she said, writing that pregnancy and childbirth can be a very stressful time. for mothers as well as for their partners.
guide
A spokesman for the Department of Health said the Health Protection Surveillance Center has issued guidance on assisting hospitals during the pandemic, which includes assisting maternity hospitals.
“The guide warns that the restrictions on the visits of partners; companions in labor; or parents visiting neonatal intensive care units must rely on a documented risk assessment that is reviewed periodically.
“All restraint decisions are based on this guide and take into account local circumstances, including infrastructure, local community infection rates, and infection rates in staff members.
The HSE has now reclassified partners as an “ essential companion ” for the purpose of scans for fetal anatomy or abnormalities, with an updated guideline for maternity hospitals given in December indicating that partner attendance at scans Fetal abnormalities or anatomies will be provided, where possible, taking into account the overall safety of the patient and staff.
“However, it is important to emphasize that if a Covid-19 case is linked to a maternity unit, Public Health teams will conduct a public health risk assessment and restrictions may need to be reintroduced,” the spokesperson said.
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