MAIRÉAD TÓIBÍN: Freedom of Information Request Reveals Cruelty of Maternity Restrictions

MAIRÉAD TÓIBÍN: Freedom of Information Request Reveals Cruelty of Maternity Restrictions - Tóibín

The Aontú candidate in the upcoming Dublin Bay South by-election, Mairead Tóibín, has said that there is now an onus on all hospitals to ease restrictions around maternity services with immediate effect.

Ms Tóibín today released a total of 172 emails which were sent to the Minister for Health by women who experienced pregnancy during the pandemic. The emails were secured by Aontú under a Freedom of Information request.

Speaking this afternoon, Ms Tóibín said:

"The emails released to us showcase the true horrors being experienced by pregnant women and their partners as a result of the restrictions imposed on maternity services by the government, the HSE and indeed by individual hospitals. While efforts have been made to ease these restrictions, there remains a serious inconsistency across some hospital settings. There is now an onus on each individual hospital to lift these restrictions".

Mairéad Tóibín contined: "These emails are difficult to read, and my heart goes out to all of the individual women who've had such difficult experiences over the past year. Childbirth is supposed to be a happy time in life. The fact that so many women are describing their experiences of maternity units as 'cold' is an incredible indictment on the current restrictions. The restrictions are cruel, inhumane and unacceptable. Thankfully there are now only 53 Covid-19 patients in hospital in this country, and our ICU figures have dropped to 13. We have flattened the curve, and there is now no logical reason to continue to impose these harsh restrictions on pregnant women and their families", concluded Tóibín.

CRIOCH

NB: For access to the documents, contact Aontú on 085 223 96 20

*Some extracts from the emails:*

"I had to sit in a room alone to be told my baby had died. I was sent from this room alone reeling from what I had just heard and sat on a busy ward corridor sobbing alone".

"I sat for hours alone and broken in one of your maternity hospitals. Not a single person to offer me the comfort I craved and needed”.

“It is an unexpected and earth-shattering experience that no woman should have to go through alone and it is a scandal of our time that women are being forced to endure this.”

"I felt so weak and scared trying to find my way around the hospital. I had to be practical and keep thinking I need to be strong for our baby"

The Irish political system is radically broken

In Ireland the vast majority of elected representatives put a finger in the air to check which way the political wind is blowing. They have one eye on their leaders – seeking brownie points – and another eye keeping their seat safe. If elected reps shut up and do as they’re told, they are promoted; if they stand up for what they believe in, they are demoted. No wonder we have the political class we have. No wonder a half a billion euro is being buried in a hole under the National Children’s Hospital and that Stormont is in stalemate.

Throughout Ireland, many people are now afraid to say what they feel, many are afraid to respectfully engage on a range of different topics. Many feel there is a new censorship and a new political correctness in Ireland, that opposition to the establishment is being deleted.

Respectful opposition is not the enemy. Respectful opposition is a critical element of a functional democracy. Aontú will have the backbone to stand up, without fear, for you.