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Expecting mothers wanting a homebirth has risen by 50% during the pandemic but the service is not available nationally.
A Roscommon based Community Midwife says her association would like to see the HSE provide a commitment to making the Home Birth service available nationally.
The present service whereby the HSE will fund a Home Birth service for a woman if she chooses, is only available in parts of the country where there are enough self-employed midwives to operate it.
Two midwives have to be available for the birth, and Aisling Dixon says that means that at present there are over 30 women in the west of Ireland who would like to have a home birth but can t due to lack of numbers.
Demand for home births rises
354 women opted for a home birth last year, compared to 272 in 2019.
Aisling Dixon, vice-chair of the Community Midwives Association, says women are opting to stay at home due to Covid. It has brought home birth up on people s radar. I think there is uncertainty when women get pregnant about where the hospitals may be around the issue of Covid, and by their birth happens 8 or 9 months later. So they have opted for home birth to provide certainty.
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Covid boosts homebirth demand as women avoid hospitals
National Homebirth Service numbers increased from 272 in 2019 to 354 last year, across all HSE regions Marah Weissbrich-Maloney with her nine-month-old son Jacob, who was born at home in Killaloe, Co Clare. Picture: Dan Linehan
Tue, 09 Mar, 2021 - 20:30
Niamh Griffin
The demand for homebirths has gone up by more than a third during the pandemic, as many women opt to avoid hospitals.
The National Homebirth Service numbers increased from 272 in 2019 to 354 last year, across all HSE regions.
Some regions saw noticeable increases including Mid-Leinster, up from 65 to 107, and HSE West, from 22 to 37.
Cork and Kerry was the busiest region in both years with 127 (2019) and 129 (2020) women registered for a homebirth.