A Co Waterford woman, who asked the High Court to direct a health board to provide her with a home midwifery service, yesterday won the first round of her court battle.
Ms Marie Nevin Maguire and her husband, Paul, of Daisybank House, Powershill, Cheekpoint, Co Waterford, asked Mr Justice Smith to strike out their application following talks believed to have ended in a confidential compromise provision of the service pending full trial of her case.
Ms Maguire, a midwife, is due to have her baby next month. At a previous hearing, her counsel, Dr Michael Forde SC, said she was eligible for the service provided for by Section 62 of the Health Act, 1970, but that the South-Eastern Health Board had declined to provide the service on the basis that women having their sixth and subsequent babies were not suitable for home delivery.