Fianna Fáil has made the demand, launching a private members bill outlining the need to overhaul maternity services in Ireland. He said it was clear from recent testimonies from women, doctors and midwives that maternity services were “on their knees”. Women in Ireland deserve safe, modern, maternity services, so do the dads and so do the babies. A ten-year national maternity strategy was launched by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, as then minister for health, in 2016, against a backdrop of decades of tragic stories and worrying maternity services. The motion backed by party TDs also calls for measures to address chronic staff shortages, including ending pay disparity among staff in maternity services.

Source: Irish Examiner June 19, 2019 13:52 UTC