Health authorities have recommended that women living outside Dublin should not come to the capital's three maternity hospitals to give birth, unless they are referred on clinical grounds. The Eastern Regional Health Authority says also that asylum seekers living in the regions should give birth in their nearest maternity unit.
The ERHA's comments come in the wake of the warning by the Dublin maternity hospitals that pregnant women living in the capital may have to go to hospitals outside the city to give birth, because of the critical shortage of midwives.
The Eastern Regional Health Authority has moved to reassure Dublin women that it is taking steps to ensure they can continue to give birth in the capital's three maternity hospitals - the Coombe, the Rotunda and Holles Street.
The masters of the three hospitals said there were over 100 vacancies for midwives, and from a clinical risk point of view, the hospitals would be forced to introduce a quota system, with pregnant women going to Drogheda, Mullingar or Kilkenny.
The ERHA said that 10% of births in the three hospitals are to women from outside the eastern region - most of them routine deliveries. The Authority has recommended to the hospitals that because of the pressure on Dublin, women from outside the capital should only use these hospitals if they have a referral on clinical grounds.
Furthermore, the Authority said that it had anticipated that more than 3,000 asylum seekers would be delivering in the Dublin maternity hospitals this year; the Authority said it was no longer possible to provide services for all of them in Dublin and they should receive their care locally. Thirty-eight percent of all births in the Rotunda in August were to asylum seekers.
It is understood that the Department of Health is looking at the possibility of introducing a special allowance for midwives working in Dublin. Discussions are ongoing, with the alliance of nursing unions on the matter.
