I thank you, a Leas-Chathaoirligh, for giving me the opportunity of making my case on the need for a neonatal centre in Cork and I thank the Minister for being here. There are approximately 6,000 deliveries per year in Cork and there is no purpose built neonatal centre for the country's second biggest city and county, in contrast to smaller towns such as Tralee or Letterkenny which have neonatal centres.
Deliveries in Cork are spread between four hospitals — Erinville, St. Finbarr's, the Bons Secours and the Victoria. The staff of these hospitals do an outstanding job under difficult circumstances. They are not, however, neonatal experts and cannot be expected to provide the same level of specialised support available in purpose built neonatal centres. There is currently just one registrar available at nights and weekends to cover maternity duties at Erinville, St. Finbarr's and Cork University hospitals.
In many cases childbirth is a relatively simple affair; in some, however, complications can lead to various forms of handicap and in other cases new born babies may die due to lack of expert care. A few minutes can make all the difference between a healthy baby and a baby with mental or physical handicap. By the same token complications during labour can endanger the life of the mother, requiring specialist intensive care facilities.
I am calling for the establishment of a purpose built centre for neonatal excellence which would offer women choice, control and, above all, safety during the process of childbirth. Such a centre would offer pre, peri and post natal care and would provide an outpatient as well as in-patient service, as well as having full intensive care facilities. It would also cater for women who are either threatened by miscarriage or who have experienced a miscarriage, and would provide the medical and psychological support for such women's needs.
Unless we move to establish such a facility we will continue to witness needless tragedies before, during and after childbirth.
