Pre-Term Births

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 May 2013

Tuesday, 28 May 2013

Ceisteanna (618)

Peadar Tóibín

Ceist:

618. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the number of unborn children that have been brought to a pre-term birth in Irish hospitals as a result of a mother who experienced suicidal tendancies due to the fact that she was pregnant in each year since 1992; if any health or disability complications were experienced by each of these children; if there were any health or disabilities caused to these children by the induced pre term births and the steps that have been taken to support these children. [25054/13]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Health

I wish to inform the Deputy that no official statistics to answer his specific query are currently available. As the Deputy may be aware, Hospital In-patient Enquiry (HIPE) and National Perinatal Reporting System (NPRS) data is used in Ireland to capture information on diagnoses and procedures of patients treated in a hospital setting. However, it is not possible to use HIPE or NPRS data to determine the underlying reason behind specific treatments. This means, for example, that while a particular obstetric case may include preterm delivery and a diagnosis of depression, it is not possible to make a causal link between the psychiatric diagnosis and the preterm delivery.