The Master of the National Maternity Hospital has said an easing of Covid-19 visitor restrictions at Dublin maternity hospitals could take place as early as this week.
Professor Shane Higgins was speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime after the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Hazel Chu, asked for such restrictions to be reviewed.
Her intervention was prompted by a series of tweets over the weekend from Sarah Flynn, a gentle birth instructor, who said women are having difficult experiences during pregnancy, particularly while they attend appointments alone.
Prof Higgins said the next "rollback" of restrictions is likely to allow partners to attend a 20-week anomaly scan, which he said will be discussed this week.
He said he has "no doubt that some women may have received bad news while they were on their own", as he acknowledged how "difficult" visitor restrictions have been for pregnant women and their partners.
He explained that partners in Dublin hospitals are now allowed in on a daily basis after the birth of the baby and there are unrestricted visiting neonatal units.
Prof Higgins said measures have had to be "feasible and reasonable".
He said: "We are in a building which is 126 years old. It is very difficult to practice social distancing."
He said there is very little evidence to show that Covid-19 poses a risk to a baby In utero.
"In a study of over 600 patients, using the cord blood of babies, very few had any evidence that infection had passed from mum to baby."
He said "a significant number" of pregnant women in Ireland have had Covid-19, and "thankfully every one of them has recovered."
