Portlaoise, Clonmel and other maternity units
to close says Alliance

Maternity units are under threat in Ireland. The National Birth Alliance says that medical plans to close a number of the country’s maternity units are well advanced. Closing maternity units is bad for women’s health, says the Alliance. “The first units to close will probably be in Portlaoise and Clonmel”, says Laura.O’Shea.

Government plans are expected to close up to one third of the country’s maternity facilities in the coming years. Maternity care is classified as an ‘acute’ or urgent service, explains the Alliance. “Implementing the Hanly Report will close the country’s smaller hospitals for in-patient care. They will lose their maternity beds as well as their emergency services”, Marie O’Connor explains.

NBA is now about to launch itself in the Wicklow-Wexford area.. “We want to see local services accessible to local mothers” says Laura O’Shea, who is hosting the launch on Thursday 11th August in Brittas Bay, Co Wicklow.

The Wicklow mother made the news earlier this year when the Health Services Executive offered her what amounted to a roadside maternity service. Laura’s second-last baby was born in a care travelling at 80 miles an hour on the N11. “Wicklow mothers want no more births on the N11” she says, firmly.

Founded to campaign for better care for women in childbirth, the Alliance made a presentation to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children in 2003. A march, the first ever demonstration by mothers and midwives against the closures planned for maternity units, followed.

ENDS

Launch date: Thursday 11th August 2005. Time: 11am – 1pm

For further details, please telephone Laura O’Shea at 086 0715938 or Marie O’Connor at 086 41 40 254

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