LAST UPDATE | 31 Aug 2021
NEW GUIDELINES FOR maternity restrictions will tell hospitals that partners do not need to leave during labour and childbirth if a patient has been given a single-occupancy room.
It is understood that the details of new maternity restrictions will be finalised after meetings between the HSE and patient advocates tomorrow.
The guidelines are expected to then be finalised and published later this week.
Senior health sources say that the plan will advise that controls on access for partners should be the minimum needed to prevent Covid-19 transmission.
Partners should be facilitated to accompany the pregnant person during admission and their initial assessment until they have been settled in an assigned bed.
If they are going directly to a single patient occupancy room, sources say there should be no requirement for the partner to leave during labour and childbirth.
Single occupancy rooms should be provided if it’s expected that a labour or induction will be long, complex, or high-risk.
However, in multi-bed areas, it will still be considered necessary to limit a pregnant person’s partner to two one-hour visits per day.
When someone in labour is preparing to be transferred to the labour ward, the partner should be facilitated to accompany them.
Many maternity hospitals and units around the country have updated their restrictions for partners visiting their partner and baby in recent weeks and visits to these wards are allowed for several hours at a time.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said earlier this evening that new guidelines for maternity restrictions will be issued “imminently” from the Department of Health.
Speaking at a media briefing following the announcement of a further easing of Covid-19 restrictions, the Taoiseach said the Government’s commitment is “to have as open access as possible” at maternity hospitals following months of ongoing restrictions.
“The HSE have developed new guidelines in respect of access for partners to maternity wards, and those will issue imminently from the Department of Health,” he said.
“Our intention is, and the commitment from the HSE, is to have as open access as possible.”
Last week, the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) expressed concern about the implications of continued maternity restrictions on parents and the wider family during the Covid-19 pandemic.
There has been criticism in recent months of the different approaches taken by maternity hospitals, with some found not to be fully compliant with official guidance – having tighter restrictions on partner access during labour and at prenatal appointments.
In a statement, the PSI said the ongoing maternity restrictions, in particular the exclusion of partners and support persons from maternity services, have been highlighted as a cause of increasing distress among pregnant women, fathers, partners and families.
Earlier this month, the Master of the Rotunda maternity hospitals said restrictions at the facility could be eased if more patients and their partners were vaccinated.
Professor Fergal Malone said the hospital carries out surveys every week to find out the vaccination status of inpatients.
In the most recent survey, 39% of inpatients in the Rotunda were fully vaccinated. The figure for partners was only slightly higher at 41%.
“To be honest with you, that’s disappointing, but in ways I suppose, not surprising because there is some vaccine hesitancy,” Professor Malone told Morning Ireland on RTÉ.
And of course, what that means is 60% of the patients and/or partners walking around the Rotunda Hospital today are not vaccinated and therefore are vulnerable to Covid.
Professor Malone said the high vaccination rates seen in the general population are not being reflected in maternity hospitals.
He said higher vaccine uptake among expectant mothers and their partners would make it possible to ease restrictions further.
With reporting by Orla Dwyer and Lauren Boland
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