The Master of the Rotunda Hospital has today called for the swine flu vaccine to be given to pregnant women.
Dr Sam Coulter-Smith said the maternity hospitals would work with the HSE to provide vaccinations, pledging facilities to allow HSE staff distribute the vaccine.
It emerged yesterday that pregnant woman and a child died separately from the condition.
"The vaccine has been licensed by all of the appropriate authorities . . . in Ireland we haven't vaccinated against the traditional flu in pregnancy [but] in countries like America they have been vaccinating for quite a long time . . . so there is quite a long safety record."
He said the maternity hospitals had therefore taken the view that pregnant women should receive the vaccine.
Dr Coulter-Smith said the evidence on the vaccine did not suggest a high risk to those were who pregnant. He added: "In this situation, where the swine flu condition can be quite severe, the message that we are trying to get across is that the vaccination is the right thing to do."
The pregnant woman and her unborn child died in one case, and a young girl died in the east of the country in a separate incident, the Department of Health said yesterday.
The latest deaths bring to 16 the death toll from the pandemic virus in the Republic.