The number of babies who are stillborn in Ireland or die within the first 28 days of their lives is higher than the number of people who die on Irish roads every year, a representative organisation for those who have suffered such losses has said.
Féileacáin, a charity supporting people who experience the death of a baby during or after pregnancy, said the issue is often “in the shadows” and under-recognised.
Speaking at a meeting of the Oireachtas Health Committee on Wednesday, Mairie Cregan, chairwoman of Féileacáin, said many baby deaths are “preventable”.
“An analysis of 12 years of stillbirths in Ireland revealed that only a minority of the mothers had a BMI greater than 30 or smoked. The average age of the mother was only 31.7 years and 40 per cent were first-time mothers,” she said.
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“Over a third of these babies were at term when babies were considered to be fully developed and ready for delivery. The babies appeared healthy with 70 per cent of the infants at normal weight.”
Cregan highlighted twins, in particular, whom she said account for 10 per cent of all baby deaths, despite representing between 3 and 4 per cent of total births. She also said baby deaths “disproportionately affect families from our black, Irish Traveller and our Asian communities”.
“Significant gaps remain in antenatal care and adherence to clinical guidelines,” she said. “We continue to hear of tragic cases where medical assessments for reduced foetal movements - sometimes the only warning sign that a baby is unwell - were delayed, missing the vital window for intervention.”
Prof Keelin O’Donoghue, a consultant obstetrician and clinical lead of the Pregnancy Loss Research Group, acknowledged it is a “challenging” topic to talk about, but said it is important to change this narrative.
“All aspects of pregnancy loss is a stigmatised issue, it’s a hidden issue,” she said. “There is a fear if we talk about pregnancy loss in pregnancy we are going to upset women or cause distress. We know from our research that’s not the case. Women value receiving correct information.”
Tony Fitzpatrick, director of professional services at the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, said midwives are “central” to safe, high-quality maternity care but maternity services are “under sustained pressure”.
“Despite rising demand and increasing clinical complexity, the number of whole-time-equivalent midwives employed in the public system has declined since 2019. Our members report that safe staffing levels are routinely not achieved, with the recommended midwife-to-birth ratio of 1:29.5 not being met in most services,” he said.
“The next maternity strategy must accelerate midwife-led care through midwife units and post-natal hubs.”
