Vol. 433 No. 3
68 Mrs. T. Ahearn asked the Minister for Health the number of stillbirths which occurred in the National Maternity Hospital, the Coombe Maternity Hospital, the Rotunda Maternity Hospital and Mount Carmel Hospital in each of the years from 1985 to 1992; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The information sought by the Deputy, from my Department's perinatal reporting system, is set out in the table below. The 1990 and 1991 figures are provisional and 1992 data are not yet available.
|
National Maternity |
Coombe |
Rotunda |
Mount Carmel |
|
|
1985 |
79 |
57 |
42 |
4 |
|
1986 |
69 |
51 |
44 |
11 |
|
1987 |
63 |
61 |
17 |
3 |
|
1988 |
60 |
57 |
29 |
8 |
|
1989 |
46 |
45 |
28 |
4 |
|
1990* |
41 |
48 |
37 |
9 |
|
1991* |
36 |
35 |
34 |
8 |
69 Mrs. T. Ahearn asked the Minister for Health if he will define the term stillborn as used by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
My Department, in its series of perinatal statistics publications, defines stillbirth as death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of conception, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy. A fetal death is indicated by the fact that, after separation, the fetus does not breathe or show any evidence of life, such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles. Following WHO guidelines, a stillbirth refers to the death of a fetus weighing at least 500 grammes.
For the purposes of the annual report of vital statistics compiled by the Central Statistics Office, a stillbirth is defined as the death of a fetus at or over 28 weeks gestation.
