The HSE was accused of abandoning mothers in rural areas during a protest prompted by concerns over the future of maternity services at Portiuncula University Hospital in Co Galway.
About 2,000 people from western and midland counties marched through Ballinasloe on Saturday to chants of “Care Can’t Wait – Reinstate".
The demonstration was organised by the Portiuncula Maternity Alliance (PMA), which was established after the HSE decided that expectant mothers with high-risk pregnancies would have their antenatal care moved from Portiuncula to other locations.
The decision was taken on foot of a report published last month that summarised five reviews of care provided to women and their babies at Portiuncula and found there were “significant clinical risks” at the maternity unit.
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The HSE has said it was committed to implementing the 34 recommendations contained in the reviews and had established an implementation team to do this.
Protesters carried county flags and placards, one of which read “No births on the M6!”. Among those participating were nuns from the Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood, the order that established the hospital in 1943.
Cllr Evelyn Francis Parsons, a GP and Independent member of Galway County Council, told protesters it was wonderful to see such a turnout and that “together we will not let [the hospital] be downgraded”.
“This hospital and especially its maternity unit is not just bricks and mortar, it has been part of our families, our community for many, many years,” she said. “Behind every statistic, behind every policy decision, there are real people, mothers, babies, families and staff.”
She said mothers’ voices have not been heard much in the debate about Portiuncula and she shared some experiences of women cared for there in the past.
Ms Parsons cited the case of Mary O’Malley, whose child experienced hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, a brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen and blood flow to babies.
“Her care was reviewed. These are her words: ‘Forcing a high-risk pregnant woman to travel is not a safety plan. It’s a terrifying gamble with our lives, with our babies lives, on the road. We were promised a safe modern service. Instead of delivering that promise, the HSE is abandoning rural mothers, and forcing us to bear the risk of its own strategic failures’.”
Kevin Connolly, a retired paediatrician who worked at Portiuncula from 1978 to 2010, said he was very proud to have worked at the hospital.
“I am very concerned that the right thing is not being done, the wrong thing has been imposed on us,” he said. “What has been imposed on us is not safe, is reducing capacity and taking away resources. It is patently the wrong thing to do and it must stop. We have to win.”
Ms Parsons said that “when services are downgraded they rarely come back”, noting the experiences of Nenagh and Roscommon, where accident and emergency departments were closed years ago.
“But I also want you to look at Portlaoise, they fought and they saved their maternity unit. And so can we,” she added.
“We demand proper staffing, proper resourcing and proper respect for our healthcare workers, our nurses, midwives, doctors and all the other staff.
“This is about mothers, the guardians of our future, it’s about our babies, our families. It’s about equality, about rural families. They deserve the same level of care as families in Dublin, Galway or anywhere else in Ireland.”
