Letters were being prepared last evening for around 800 expectant mothers due to give birth at Portiuncula Hospital, to allay any fears they may have about services, in the wake of the news of an external review into the birth of nine babies at the Ballinasloe facility.
The letters inform the women about the external review being taken into the birth of the nine babies; to focus on HIE, (Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy ) which is a reduction in oxygen or blood around the time of a baby’s birth.
Dr Pat Nash, regional clinical director HSE West and North West, confirmed the letters would be received over the coming days. He said the HSE wanted to be “open and transparent” with the women regarding the reviews at the hospital.
Of the seven babies with HIE at Portiuncula since 2024, six were referred for neonatal cooling - a higher than expected rate for the hospital. The HSE says it wants to be open and transparent about the review.
It has insisted that Portiuncula University Hospital is safe and continues to provide services as normal amid external reviews having been ordered into the delivery of nine babies there, including two who were stillborn. The review involves six deliveries last year, one this year, and two stillbirths in 2023.
It emerged on Monday that seven babies have had HIE, resulting in six of them being referred for neonatal hypothermic treatment, also referred to as neonatal cooling.
HIE is a reduction of oxygen or blood supply to the brain around delivery and it can occur before, during or after birth.
Speaking on RTÉ, HSE West and North West Regional Executive Officer Tony Canavan acknowledged that people going to Portiuncula to have their children may be worried, but gave assurances that it was safe.
“We absolutely understand that the announcement, and the team that’s going into Portiuncula, creates additional anxiety for people who are hoping to have their babies with us in Portiuncula,” he said.
“But I would say that the hospital is safe, it’s continuing to provide services as normal,” he added.
“We have put in this team with a consultant obstetrician, director of midwifery and a senior manager who are working with the management team in Portiuncula to assure of its safety.”
Mr Canavan had earlier said the rate of referrals for brain injuries at the hospital last year was higher than would have been expected.
He said it was of particular concern that there were five cases of babies referred for ‘headcooling’ at Portiuncula last year, while there was another case that “probably should have been”.
“So the incidence was probably six cases for the year. It’s a hospital that had around 1,300 births last year and we would have expected the rate to be somewhere in around one or maybe two cases referred last year,” he said.
He said any incident of HIE is reported.
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has said she is “deeply concerned” about the issues under review at the hospital.