Mother who lost home-birth case has baby in UK

The woman who went to the High Court to seek the right to give birth at home has had a son in the UK.

The boy was born at the start of the month and Aja Teehan said she was “overjoyed” by the outcome.

Ms Teehan (38), who lives in Kilkenny, indicated that she would become a “birth refugee” and move to the UK after a High Court action failed to overturn HSE refusal to sanction a home birth because she previously had a Caesarian section.

However, she has
declined to disclose the circumstances of the birth in England, which was overdue. The child was due to be born on October 13th. In a blog post last night, she joked that "after making us wait for so long, he was particularly welcome".

She added: “We cannot speak highly enough of the wonderful medical care and attention we received there; each of the decisions that we made was fully informed by their medical expertise and our right to make those decisions was supported throughout.

“We would like to express our deep thanks to all of you who have offered your support throughout this time. We have encountered enormous humanity; the kindness of strangers has been both unexpected and overwhelming.”