A Tipperary Oireachtas member is calling for partners of pregnant women to be present at all stages of labour.
Senator Garret Ahearn has asked Health Minister Stephen Donnelly for more leniency and clarity for pregnant women and their partners during childbirth.
Currently pregnant women are generally only allowed to have their partner there for the later stages of labour due to Covid-19 regulations.
Speaking in the Seanad Senator Ahearn said this is causing undue stress for many couples.
“It seems to me that there is different rules in different hospitals in terms of how long a partner can stay with the woman while she is going through labour.”
“And as anyone knows who has went through it it’s not just the one hour of delivering a baby – it’s everything that goes with it. It’s going into the hospital, it’s being there, it’s comforting your partner who’s in hospital and people aren’t able to experience that in the last number of months.”
