An inquiry into allegations that religious considerations prompted the use of a risky alternative to Caesarean sections in two Dublin maternity hospitals up to the mid-1960s has been sought by the Green Party TD, Mr John Gormley.
The use of the alternative, known as symphysiotomy, was revealed in 1999 by Ms Jacqueline Morrissey, who studied the practice as part of her work for a Ph.D on the influence of Catholic ethics on Irish medicine.
The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, told Mr Gormley this week that he had asked the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to examine the issue.
The procedure was used when a baby was too big to be born normally. Though a Caesarean section was safer, Ms Morrissey reported that some doctors believed women faced with having a series of babies and a series of Caesareans might opt for contraception instead.
Symphysiotomy often resulted in permanent widening of the pelvic region which meant subsequent babies could be born without a Caesarean. It carried a higher risk of death for the first baby but the practice was implemented in the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street and the Coombe Hospital from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s.
Dr Peter Boylan, Master of the National Maternity Hospital from 1991-1998, rejected Ms Morrissey's analysis, saying the operation had been prompted by medical considerations rather than religious ones.