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Women's joy at lifting of partner ban at baby scans
Helen Bruce
Pregnant women and their partners have welcomed a change in HSE policy, so that mothers-to-be will no longer have to face their 20-week scan alone.
The HSE is understood to be asking maternity services to allow partners to attend the anomaly scan, having previously advised that partners should not attend to reduce the spread of COVID.
The change was said to be due to a drop in community infection rates, and to have taken into account the views of patients and clinicians.
The HSE is understood to be asking maternity services to allow partners to attend the anomaly scan. Pic: Shutterstock
The restriction had triggered an angry backlash from couples, and 52,205 people had signed a petition against it on Uplift.
Physiotherapist Caroline Cumming, who started the petition and is pregnant with her third child, said: 'The restriction prohibiting fathers and partners from accompanying women to antenatal appointments and scans, despite the fact that she could potentially receive distressing, life-changing news alone, is extremely cruel.'
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín TD called the restrictions 'inhumane and disproportionate'.
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín TD called the restrictions 'inhumane and disproportionate'. Pic: Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie
He revealed on Tuesday that 170 emails regarding COVID maternity services had been sent to the health minister over six weeks, many of which he described as 'harrowing'.
'At routine scans, sometimes issues can arise – sometimes it's bad news. We must remember that one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage in this country. No woman should be left to face this bad news alone, in a hospital corridor without a partner to support her.'
First-time mother-to-be Victoria O'Carroll welcomed the change, but said she hoped the relaxation of restrictions would now extend to allowing partners to stay with women during the early stages of labour, rather than just being called in at the very end. 'I'm delighted they are making these changes,' she said.
First-time mother-to-be Victoria O'Carroll is 'delighted' that changes are being made. Pic: Provided
Ms O'Carroll said she had experienced a panic attack due to the stress of having to attend her prenatal scan alone.
The Dubliner turned to private clinics where partners are allowed to attend to help her through what she had found to be a nerve-wracking experience.
Ms O'Carroll, who works in fund management and is expecting a baby boy next month, said that when she learned she would be alone for her first 12-week scan at the Coombe, they looked at alternative options.
Ms O'Carroll said she had experienced a panic attack due to the stress of having to attend her prenatal scan alone. Pic: Provided
'We had a nine-week scan at a private clinic, which we paid for ourselves, and we could hear the baby's heartbeat. It was a lovely experience, we were both crying, we were over the moon. It was great to have that moment together,' she recalled.
She said when she attended the Coombe a few weeks later, she had hoped to be able to Facetime the experience with her partner, Eoin O'Reilly, who was in the car park, but was told she was not allowed, due to hospital policy.
'I was so upset I just put the phone away, but my heart was in my mouth the whole time she was doing the scan, and I would have liked someone else with me just to listen to what she was saying, and to ask questions. That would have really helped… It was not an enjoyable experience, and I came away feeling teary.'
The restriction had triggered an angry backlash from couples, and 52,205 people had signed a petition against it on Uplift. Pic: Shutterstock
A respondent to a recent survey by Uplift told how she was alone when she learned she had miscarried.
'It was late on a Saturday night and there was only one other patient in a huge waiting room,' she said.
'I was there for nearly eight hours while my partner sat outside in the car. They never let him come in to hear the news, support me or be involved in the loss that was also his. Then I had to tell him that we had lost our baby. It was a harrowing experience and inhumane treatment. No element of compassion was shown to us once.'
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