The report from the Fitness to Practise Committee of An Bord Altranais has found the home birth midwife, Ms Ann O Ceallaigh, not guilty of professional misconduct after an inquiry which began almost three years ago.
The case concerned a woman who was brought to Holles Street hospital after three days' labour and it aroused widespread interest both here and in Britain. It was regarded as a test case for the practice of home births in this State.
Ms O Ceallaigh's supporters will see the verdict as a victory for the home birth movement. They saw the inquiry, and a related High Court injunction seeking to stop her from practising as a domicilary midwife pending its conclusion, as an attempt by the maternity hospital establishment to limit the growth of Irish home births.
However, the Fitness to Practise Committee report found she "should have been more vigilant and pre-emptive" in "seeking further professional opinion/intervention" for her client in the light of her symptoms. This exposed the baby, who was delivered in the hospital by Caesarean section, to "some risk".
The report stated that the committee was divided on whether this amounted to professional misconduct, and, having regard to the two-thirds majority required, found her not guilty.
However, it went on to recommend that she be censured and that two conditions be attached to the retention of her name on the register. These are that the superintendent public health nurse should monitor and supervise her practice and that she submit a report on it every six months for two years.
These conditions are now being challenged by her legal team. It obtained leave for a judicial review in the High Court yesterday, and this is likely to be heard in the law term after Easter.
This means that the meeting of An Bord Altranais, due to take place tomorrow to make its recommendations relating to Ms O Ceallaigh, has been deferred.
In the course of the various legal battles surrounding the hearing of the complaint against the midwife, and the injunction seeking to stop her practising, she delivered 47 babies before the injunction was lifted last May.
Experts in midwifery from the UK were brought in to give evidence at the various hearings of the Fitness to Practise committee last year, which took place in camera. After a legal challenge to the exclusion of her expert witnesses, they were allowed to observe the proceedings but the evidence never reached the public.
Three other complaints against her are still outstanding. One concerns a case in which she was called upon to assist by another midwife at a late stage, and in the other two the mothers have stated support for her and the treatment they received. These complaints are also the subject of judicial reviews.