Galway women planning to have children will soon have the option of giving birth at home as part of a pilot project being implemented by the Western Health Board.
The training of staff for the scheme has already started at Galway's University College Hospital, which will be co-ordinating the service as part of a hospital outreach project.
A report circulated at a meeting of the Western Health Board yesterday revealed that UCHG and two other hospitals - Dublin's National Maternity Hospital and a hospital in the Southern Health Board area - have been selected for the project by the Department of Health.
In the report the regional manager of acute services, Mr William Moran, said that in
the event of problems arising during a home birth, the mother-to-be would be transferred immediately by ambulance to hospital. He emphasised that the project was an attempt to meet the statutory rights of women who choose, after full consultation with doctors, to have a home birth.
Mr Moran said the Ombudsman had stressed the statutory duty of the health boards to provide the service. While 99 per cent of births take place in the hospital setting, an increasing number of women wish for a home confinement despite the perceived extra risk. He said up to 15 per cent of women would have an interest in a home birth if such a service was available to them. The project should be running in six months.
A team of six midwives will work in partnership with obstetricians, public health nurses and GPs. Each woman will have a named midwife, who will explore the family supports for home birth.
The woman will also be referred for shared care to her doctor and be free to contact the midwife at any time by telephone. The midwife will inform a team leader when the woman is in labour. If the labour is in the early stage the midwife may visit on her own. In the case of established labour, two midwives will attend to assist at the birth.
After delivery the midwife will stay with the mother for three hours and visit her and the baby for five days after birth.
Mr Moran said only experienced staff familiar with the practices of the obstetrics unit of UCHG would be employed on the scheme. He added that special arrangements would be put in place to advise all women considering a home birth option.
"No effort will be made to encourage women to have a home birth and the perceived greater safety of delivering in the specialised obstetric unit will be fully explained to each," he said. He added that the project would be evaluated at the end of two years and this would determine how other domiciliary services were planned.