The National Maternity Hospital in Holles Street is "very apprehensive" about difficulties in recruiting midwives, according to its assistant matron.
Ms Rosa Mugan-Dignam said while the hospital is hoping not to have to curtail services, the situation is "getting progressively worse all the time". Last year, elective procedures had to be cancelled for a period because of nursing shortages. Recruitment from the Philippines and India largely resolved this at Holles Street.
However, the hospital loses about 10 midwives every September as they start courses in the less stressful area of public health nursing. It is losing nurses who move to the country because they are unwilling to endure the cost and stress of coping with getting to and from work in the greater Dublin area.
The closure and scaling down of maternity units in Scotland has given Holles Street the opportunity to recruit Scottish midwives. Some seven such midwives have been recruited with hopes to recruit more. The Coombe Women's Hospital is to take over the Holles Street clinic in Naas, Co Kildare following reorganisation of Eastern regional health boards. The changeover will begin tomorrow.
About 200 mothers a year are sent home from Holles Street hospital six hours after having their babies. It is not a draconian bed-management exercise but is aimed at women who ideally would like to give birth at home. The hospital's eight community midwives make 240 deliveries per year, 10 per cent of which take place in the family home. In other cases, the women have their babies delivered in the hospital to provide against any risk to the baby but are discharged home almost immediately where they receive post-natal care from the midwife.
Extra beds are to be provided by the Royal Hospital Donnybrook for people who have suffered serious brain injuries. It has received approval from the Eastern Regional Health Authority for almost £250,000 funding for the new 12-bed unit. The hospital is currently implementing a £10 million plan.
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