INMO: Smaller maternity units must be protected

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has called for midwifery-led units to be expanded and for smaller maternity services to be protected. The call comes as the midwifery-led unit in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, one of only two in the country, celebrates its 20th anniversary.

INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha described midwifery-led units like those in Our Lady of Lourdes as “a real success story”. She said it was “a shame” that no other midwifery-led units have been opened in the last two decades, adding that this indicates “a clear disregard for women’s choice”.

Addressing recent inferences that smaller maternity units are not safe places to give birth, Ms Ní Sheaghdha said: “The answer to problems in smaller maternity units should not be about limiting the scope of practise of midwives and sending vulnerable expectant mothers to larger maternity hospitals which are already at full capacity and are hundreds of kilometres away.

Many maternity units and stand-alone centres are already overburdened and have large staffing vacancies. If services are to be transferred then the consequences for already busy and understaffed services must be made clear to the public. The answer must be to invest and support local, midwife-led maternity units and properly resourced community midwifery services that factor in women’s choice as envisaged by the National Maternity Strategy.

“As a country, we are painfully behind in innovative, midwife-led care. The World Health Organisation issued guidance in June calling for global expansion of midwife-led care. Ireland is very resistant in this regard with only two midwife-led units nationwide, while consultant-led, hospital-based care remains the default.

“It is widely accepted that expanding and investing in midwifery models of care is one of the most effective strategies to improve maternal and newborn health. Ensuring safe care and services means that no part of the maternity service should stand alone. There should be a region-wide infrastructure in which community midwifery services and midwifery-led units and home births are fully supported and integrated seamlessly into the wider maternity services.”

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