THE NUMBER of women who had to be readmitted to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda within six weeks of giving birth increased significantly in 2008 when compared with previous years, a new study has found.
Researchers looked at readmission rates over a four-year period from 2005 to 2008 and found that of 15,782 women who gave birth at the hospital, 266 were readmitted within six weeks of discharge.
The number who had Caesarean sections and had to be readmitted tripled between 2006 and 2008, from 12 to 36, albeit some 1,232 women had Caesarean sections in 2008 at the hospital, compared with 965 in 2006.
The number who had to be readmitted after Caesarean sections increased from 20 to 36 between 2007 and 2008, even though 42 more women had Caesarean section in 2007 than in 2008.
The authors of the review, published in the latest edition of the Irish Medical Journal, say there should be a "review of technique for Caesarean section particularly among trainee obstetricians".
Issues which precipitated rehospitalisation included wound infection and other complications following Caesarean section, infections such as mastitis as well as postpartum haemorrhage.
The 11 C-section wound infections in 2008 were almost equal to the total number recorded for the three preceding years.