An external review into the safety of water births in hospitals in Cavan and Drogheda will begin before the end of the month, the Health Service Executive (HSE) said yesterday.
The review was commissioned by the HSE after the death of a baby in February. The baby was born alive in the birthing pool facility at Cavan General Hospital in February. However, complications arose after the delivery and the baby was transferred to a Dublin hospital where it later died.
An internal review of the baby's birth concluded that there was no cause for concern with the care during pregnancy, labour and birth.
As a precautionary measure, the HSE Dublin North East suspended the use of birthing pools at Cavan General and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, to allow an external review to be carried out.
The HSE Dublin North East was the first health board area to provide the birthing pool facility in two of its hospitals.
A HSE spokeswoman said UK consultants Sectoral Healthcare had now been commissioned to carry out the review. A consultant obstetrician and a midwife would shortly begin the review.
Their terms of reference are:
To look at the policy, protocol and procedures in place in relation to water births, and in particular the adherence to these protocol in the midwifery-led units in Cavan General and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda.
To issue a report on the findings and to detail recommendations relating to these findings and on the future use of birthing pools for childbirth.
The spokeswoman said the review would take a few weeks.
Birthing pools may still be used for pain relief during labour in the two hospitals, but women may not give birth in the pools until the review's recommendations are studied.
Before the HSE suspended water births at the two hospitals, about 40 babies had been born in the birthing pool in Drogheda and 10 were born in the Cavan hospital.
The use of birthing pools is said to reduce pain, relax muscles and reduce women's stress.
