Expectant mothers who recently attended maternity hospitals have said blaming poor vaccination uptake for ongoing restrictions “doesn’t make sense” as they were never been asked if they or their partners had received their jabs.
aura O’Reilly (33) did not have to disclose whether her boyfriend had been fully vaccinated before he attended her 20-week scan at the Coombe Hospital in Dublin.
She is 27 weeks pregnant and recently had to attend another appointment alone. It is the Dublin woman’s first pregnancy, and she has questioned why hospital rules appear to differ from the Government’s own.
Ms O’Reilly said she had to stand outside the hospital after telling staff she had returned from the UK 14 days before her appointment.
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She went to the UK after the lifting of travel restrictions as her partner is from there and they had not seen his family in nearly two years.
After returning to Ireland, she got two negative PCR tests, despite vaccinated people no longer being required to take them.
Ms O’Reilly got the tests for peace of mind as she knew she was attending an appointment at the Coombe two weeks later.
She was asked at her appointment whether she had travelled abroad in the previous 21 days and revealed she had flown to the UK but had proof of her negative tests and vaccination status.
“I had to go and stand outside the hospital and wait for them to ring in infection control,” she said.
“I had two negative tests, I’m vaccinated and followed restrictions. The government guidelines say you don’t have to quarantine any more or have a negative test, yet hospitals seem to have different rules.”
She said she was eventually allowed inside, but the experience has left her questioning why her vaccinated partner can sit in a pub with friends but cannot be with her during every step of her pregnancy journey.
“I’ve seen women come out of scans and they’re in tears, with men running up to them at the front door,” she said.
Louise (38) is another expectant mother who has had many difficult experiences during the pandemic.
She has suffered four miscarriages since March last year and had to go through all those heartbreaking appointments at the National Maternity Hospital on her own.
“During my last miscarriage my consultant was wiping my tears while my husband was sitting outside,” she said.
She is now 19 weeks pregnant and thought her partner might be able to attend all appointments given restrictions have eased in other sectors.
“I’ve never been asked if me or my partner are vaccinated,” she said. “I’m absolutely terrified as my last pregnancy was quite traumatic. I don’t know what I would have done if my husband hadn’t been there. He wasn’t allowed at my 12-week scan, even though he’s fully vaccinated.
“Some women don’t want to be vaccinated, and that’s their choice, so why can’t they do testing for them like they do for concerts? The ongoing restrictions make no sense.”