This article is from page 23 of the 2006-06-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 23 JPG
ONE of Ireland’s leading maternity units is based in a county where fewer babies are born each year than to mothers in Clare.
But Clare mothers are forced to give birth in Galway and Limerick hospitals, as the Banner County still has no maternity unit or plans for one.
The maternity unit at Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar has long been recognised as one of the leading units in the country, yet just 1,632 babies were born to Mayo women last year, 21 babies less than to Clare mothers.
Clare County Councillor Madeleine Taylor-Quinn (FG) said this week that she would contact the Tánaiste and Minister for Health Mary Harney, to press upon her the need for a full-service maternity unit at the Mid Western Regional Hospital, Ennis.
Cllr Taylor-Quinn said that Clare was the only county on the western seaboard that did not have hospitalbased maternity care, yet Ennis was the fastest growing town in Ireland. She said that the lives were been put at risk by the obligation on expectant mothers to travel to Limerick and Galway.
“Without a maternity service at Ennis hospital, Clare women are being left to carry an unacceptable risk, especially if they are coming from the more remote parts of west, or north Clare.
“Because of increased traffic volumes on the roads, journey times into Limerick and Galway have increased dramatically in recent years.
“This is a significant inconvenience for mothers-to-be. But in an emergency, journey times are a critical issue.
“I am aware of a number of women who have delivered babies in cars on the side of the road, either en route to Limerick, or to Galway. Had there been complications, the consequences could have been tragic,” she warned.
“Furthermore, the population of Ennis has more than doubled on what it was 17 years ago, when women had the choice of two hospital maternity units, at Ennis General Hospital and Cahercalla.
“There are now a very high number of women of childbearing age living in the town and its surrounding areas.
“Under the National Spatial Strategy, the populations of Ennis and Shannon will grow further, and the number of women in the county requiring maternity services, will increase as a result.”
She said that the current independent review of general hospital facilities must give serious consideration to a maternity unit in Ennis, in order to cater for Clare’s current and future population needs.