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LATE THURSDAY EVENING, the National Maternity Hospital announced it was making changes to restrictions on partners accessing the hospital.
Two of the big headline changes were, that partner access during the day would now be unrestricted between 8 am and 9 pm, and that partners would also be unrestricted during labour/birth once you have been admitted to a bed. It brought tears to my eyes.
The tears were a reflection of the mixed emotions welling inside. I am, of course, delighted for the hundreds of women due to give birth shortly in Holles Street, and who will now no longer have to fear separation from their partner during labour or have to navigate the first few days post-partum without their partner’s support.
Instead, they can simply focus on supporting each other as a family unit. Exactly as it should be.
Distress
But I also recognise the frustration and distress the announcement will cause for many other expectant parents around the country attending one of the other 18 maternity units.
They will be left wondering why their access is being curtailed to the labour ward and for measly 45 minutes post-natal visits. It’s especially difficult to fathom when so many pregnant people and their partners are now fully vaccinated. (A full breakdown of current restrictions is available here).
I also can’t help but recognise my own sadness and grief that I didn’t have the same experience last year giving birth in Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH). Last July, I was full of hope going into my 38 week appointment, as the Dublin hospitals had announced changes to their restrictions at the time and post-natal visits had been re-introduced.
I was strongly assured at the appointment that there would be no such changes in Cork. And, true to their word, a week later I was left to navigate caring for a newborn for three days on my own post-C-section. Knowing that families in our situation in another part of the country weren’t being forced to go through the first few newborn days alone was a bitter pill to swallow.
I have never been able to fully articulate the heartbreaking, gut-punching sense of isolation and loneliness that I felt during those three days. I don’t talk about it to anyone, not even my husband because to relive those three days is too much.
It is too much to think about being separated from my newborn on her very first night in the world because I was immobilised from the surgery and she had to be cared for in the nursery. It is too much to remember the sound of the other women in the ward, crying in distress behind their little blue curtains. It is too much to remember my husband’s face on the screen as he tried to comfort me while hiding his own pain at missing out on bonding with our daughter.
People talk about partner support during maternity care now as if it’s a luxury rather than an essential component of the journey. Not only is such a view totally out of touch with how relationships and family dynamics are now established in Ireland, but it also misses the point on the much bigger picture.
Partner support is associated with better outcomes to such an extent that the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that women have ‘a chosen companion during labour and childbirth, including during Covid-19’.
If we accept that partner support is essential then we need to relook at how we are delivering maternity services during Covid-19. We know that the current situation regarding partner restrictions in maternity hospitals is unbearable for families. There has been story, after story, after story from families about what they have been through. It is barbaric and inhumane and has no place in any country, let alone one as well-resourced as Ireland.
It also has to be acknowledged that is hugely difficult for hospitals too who are dealing with the consequences of years of underinvestment, delays to the implementation of the National Maternity Strategy and the ever-present threat of Covid-19. Not to mention the now prevalent Delta variant.
A better way
But, if we can agree that our shared goal is the safe delivery of maternity services for women and their partners, I firmly believe that a solution can be found. To achieve this goal, we need a roadmap for maternity services that has buy-in at the most senior levels of Government and HSE leadership.
That’s why we’re calling on the Cabinet sub-committee on Covid-19 to announce a detailed, dedicated roadmap for maternity services as part of their announcement for reopening all other sectors of society at the end of August. Anything less than this is unacceptable in circumstances where all HSE staff have and continue to have access to the vaccine, when vaccination uptake among the population aged 18 and over is between 78% and 86% and when the rest of society can re-open.
The roadmap for maternity services should consider every available option to mitigate the risks of Covid-19 in maternity settings while retaining partner access. The roadmap could include Covid testing of partners, antigen testing, increased staffing, temporary accommodation solutions for overcrowded clinics, relocation of certain outpatient services to community care clinics, increased funding for community midwifery and homebirth services so the pressure on hospitals is lessened, and using privately funded scanning facilities.
If there is the political will to find the solution, we have the talent in our health service to find a way. I’m confident of that.
Linda Kelly is part of the #BetterMaternityCare campaign and gave birth under Covid restrictions in July 2020. She tweets @lindabtweeting and runs women_ascend on Instagram.
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wasnt george washinton a freedom fighter too?
George Washington didn’t help found a concentration camp system for gays and political opponents. And millions of people didn’t risk their lives to leave America because of Washington’s impact.
@ RP
i think you’ll find that he wasn’t averse to benefitting from the mass imprisonment of human beings and the use of slave labour for his own personal gain.
the “man” presided over a system that was based on the enslavement of captives from foreign lands on an industrial scale.
so no, he wasn’t a freedom fighter, he was an oppressor of the worst type-he was an enslaver.
Exactly and no mention of the on-going marginalisation and ethnic cleansing of the native American.
@Patrick
I’m sure you would agree that a concentration camp would have been preferable to a bullet in the back of the head. The colonials did far worse things wherever they roamed than did any South American revolutionary.
Have you heard the story about the scorpion and the frog? The American and british governments still struggle to shake off their colonial pasts, so deeply ingrained in their nature is it.
“So the frog agreed to take the scorpion across the river. He swam over to the bank and settled himself near the mud to pick up his passenger. The scorpion crawled onto the frog’s back, his sharp claws prickling into the frog’s soft hide, and the frog slid into the river. The muddy water swirled around them, but the frog stayed near the surface so the scorpion would not drown. He kicked strongly through the first half of the stream, his flippers paddling wildly against the current.
Halfway across the river, the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his back and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the scorpion remove his stinger from the frog’s back. A deadening numbness began to creep into his limbs.
“You fool!” croaked the frog, “Now we shall both die! Why on earth did you do that?”
The scorpion shrugged, and did a little jig on the drownings frog’s back.
“I could not help myself. It is my nature.”
Well the Cuba, Fidel and Che created was a popular revolt that had to be done due to the corrupt dictatorship of Batista- An american puppet leader who created one of the most unequal societies in the world and turning a sovereign state into a holiday resort of rich American businessmen who sucked the country dry. So yeah, I think id support that…
To the British he was a terrorist
In short, “you take our land, we give you monkey for your back”… Robin Williams on US addiction to S American cocaine…
The devil’s dandruff… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpGtgZw5Z_U
I am from India….Just came across this news while browsing on the web….and couldn’t keep my hands of commenting here….Ok here i Go….
Get a life Americans, Che Guevara will remain a hero in the minds of millions around the world no matter how much you people despise him… Let me tell you why he was great in comparison to your country…
1.He was born in Argentina in a wealthy family and was a qualified doctor..He participated in the revolution just for the sake of humanity to free the poor people of Latin America from the hands of your imperialistic govt. and its puppets.He had no economic motive behind his actions…i.e, unlike your country the motive behind his actions were not oil,control over sugar industry,military gains, etc…
2.While your people were racially discriminating African Americans in your country,Che on the other hand went to Congo and fought side by side with them…
3.He left the post of Minister of Industries,in Cuba,to fight for the bolivian peasants,and died at the hand of military aided by CIA.
4.Ok ,now as far as the “mass murderer” tag you put on him is considered,he killed people who were tieing up with the enemy forces…What would you people do if that was the case..?And he hasn’t killed innocent people around the world just for oil..(.Where are the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction…? )…And as far as the no:of people(innocent/traitor/whatever) killed goes.. you people have killed millions more than him….
Let me end this with a quote from Nobel Peace Price winner and renownned world leader, Nelson Mandela..
“Che Guevara’s feats in our continent were of such magnitude that no prison or censorhip could hide them from us. Che’s life is an inspiration for every human being who loves freedom.We always honor his memory”
“Despite the image makeover which some try to give him, the real Che Guevara was a mass murderer and human rights abuser”.
That’s just too funny coming from a country who murder and terrorise people all over the world. You couldn’t make this shit up.
Does that make the claims untrue, though?
Nothing proven, one opinion against another with no facts. Draw
Not really addressing her point. I think she has a valid point, he did torture and kill a lot of people. We all know what the U.S get up to but by doing a comparison like ” he wasn’t as bad as they were” is nonsense, he’s still bad just because they have done other stuff doesn’t make him good.
@frank – well documented that he personally carried out multiple summary executions
The Irish do tend to pay homage to terrorists.
My embarrassment would be the sight of a statue paying tribute to a revolutionary, erected by the most sub servant, cowardly, sheepish, politically ignorant people in the world
Gather enough “terrorists” together, give them money and power and they will gain legitimacy in the eyes of many. I don’t condone acts of violence on innocent civilians, regardless of situation but depending on your definition of terrorist, the term could quickly grow to encompass many of the military forces across the globe.
Baffling. Ever heard of Batista? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulgencio_Batista. Nice hat…
Was it Pius XII started the catholic-anti-communist-without-any-serious-analysis-tirade? He was terrified by proto-liberation theology in Mexico in the 40s-50s. Whatever the merits or otherwise of Guevara’s activities, the perspective in Ireland is seriously skewed by RC-think. When you’re dealing with the likes of Batista, it’s questionable to label any opponent a terrorist. Study the history of S America and get back to us….
Doesn’t Mandela hold Che in the highest regard?
‘Che Guevara is an inspiration for every human being who loves freedom.’
Its a symbol of The revolutionary; the dreamer.
The US support the Gaza blockade. Says enough really.
i was reading a biography of Leni many years ago (so you’ll have to forgive me if my memory is a bit inaccurate) that spoke of Lenin’s attitude to terrorizing the population to his particular opinion. i put this to a SWP member one day and he actually had the NECK to defend it!!!
it was the following week that i started reading Kropotkin.
Che didn’t live to see what Fidel did to the revolution. George Washington will not be very happy about Guantanamo summer holiday camp.
From the people who brought you extraordinary rendition, now comes extraordinary hypocrisy.
I wonder in 50 years will there be a statue of Kim Jong il or Osama bin laden… Arguably they were revolutionaries too.
Silly…
Excellent point Niall.
What an ignorant comment Niall. Kim jong il is merely the fortunate son of Kim Il Sung, who you could argue was a revolutionary.
If Che is OK for Nelson Mandela then he’s ok for me.
Don’t forget Dick Cheney and his fellow travellers opposed the release of Nelson Mandela because they considered him a terrorist. I admire Galway’s initiative.
“If Che is OK for Nelson Mandela then he’s ok for me.”
That’s the spirit! No thinking required
One mans freedom fighter is another mans terrorist. Some cheek the US have, biggest terrorists in the world who have for over 3/4 of their existance have been in a war of some sort, mostly crushing uprisings by common people so they can rape their land dry all in the name of corporations and billionaires. Fucking country is a joke, a facist country where half of the people live in poverty, highest prison population in a for profit private prison system; a propaganda machine the likes the world has never seen and presidents that are bought and paid for by big banks. Having lived there for several years i feel sorry for their people as most of them have good hearts and i really hope they revolt against what is basically a very subtle facist regime.
Don’t we share a common bond with Cuba? We’ve both had bully neighbours pissing on us. Do we consider Collins as terrorist? Of course the ones that denounce the likes of Guevara are America, Britain etc . . .the old conquerors and marauders. . .
Did Collins (traitor and all that he was) pioneer concentration camps for gays and for his political opponents?
No but the Magdelene Laundries werent much either and neither was the burning of a protestant orphanage
@Johny Doe: Indeed we do share similar pasts. The Cubans recognize t that too and are very fond of the Irish. Here’s a pic of the Plaque on O’Reilly St., Havana — http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevp/344526811/
Great, I am so proud of Billy Cameron standing up for the proposal, the man talks sense! I was afraid they would back down.
I think it’s a brilliant idea, and I will definitely donate!
He had Irish roots and was an unwavering idealist, his struggle has been an inspiration to millions…and more practically, it will add another point of interest to Galway from a tourists perspective.
He was certainly an unwavering idealist! Little things like due process and civil rights certainly didn’t cause him to waver one iota!
Please note that the US Rep speaking here was born in Cuba and is more informed to speak about Che then some people above and others yesterday. There are plenty of Cubans in florida who fled to the USA because of the legacy of Che and the Castro brothers. The guy knows what he is talking about!
Don’t know enough about Guevara to be for or against a monument but that Congresswoman is a hawk when it comes to most things even outside of Cuba.
Where or what is the evidence to backup the congress womans claims?
Remember the strongest supporters of the American embargo on Cuba are these ex pat Cubans in America. Strangling the lifeblood out of their own people. I didnt expect much more from the US but their own people?. As the regime is somewhat more relaxed these days, it would actually do more to topple the regime if the US lifted the embargo. I’m no fan of the regime but the US should have more kop on. The Cuban people have two governments strangling them simultaneously. . .
Erecting a statue of Che Guevara will go some way to atone for the conferring of the freedom of the borough of Galway on Ronald Reagan. That truly was a day of shame
But he had Irish roots too…. etc
He used to dye his roots….
Before people judge Che Guevara, they should put his actions into the context of the turbulent times in which he lived. It was a time when South American politics and economies were being controlled or dominated by U.S foreign policy, which was self serving and acted without regard for the native workers. Puppet dictators, supported by the U.S were responsible for the deaths and disappearance of countless people. This policy has not changed. The world needs more people like Guevara. He educated himself, and came to his own conclusions.
THe last thing we want are more people like Ernesto Che Guevara Lynch.
Americans attempting to become involved in what’s non of their business
#nothingnew
She’s from Cuba
Can we also build a gulag around the statue for his Irish looney left who romanticise about him, then lock away the key. We’ll see how they like it similar to other socialist regimes in the world.
Funny how this has turned into a criticism of the US! Che, Castro and Cuba had the backing of the soviet union. As my father used to say “nobody ever protested against the soviets”!? Millions of people enslaved/ lost their lives under the banner of Marxism!
I think you will find Hitler protested against the Soviets
Millions died from the banner of corrupt capitalism aswell… ie. Vietnam, Pinochet etc. As a Social-Democrat/Democratic Socialist I support neither but the hypocrisy of Right Wing respondants is astounding!
Oh are we playing the body-count game? ‘Cos that’s the only time Communism wins
Ok, whether you like him or hate. If Galway City Council have the funds to erect a monument to a historical figure, should they not put the money to a worthwhile Irish figure
The tax payer isnt funding it
Is there one?
Is there nothing some Irish people will do to try and find SOME bloody connection with someone [usually famous] from outside these shores? Don’t we have enough worthy people here homegrown who deserve praise and commemoration for the things they’ve done. Che Guevara is about as Irish as feckin’ Stalin was! No wait, hold on a minute for those of you starting to Google or Wikipaedia Stalin’s ancestry! Just in case….
A person can have drunk a pint of the black stuff once, eaten Irish stew, flown Ryanair or watched more than one episode of Father Ted to be eligible to be Irish…..
I think we can make our own decisions thank you very much, you don’t own us yet.
It’s not like an Irish person would ever comment on American affairs, right?
But there is limited effing freedom in Cuba!!!!
Yeah, whereas the United States is the land of the free – unless you’re black or hispanic, or of the 46 million who are below the poverty line, without medical care or unemployment support. But they’re just not trying hard enough to earn their freedom.
If he was the great socialist messiah then why stop at a flippin statue? Come on Galway comrades, do as he wanted you to do – get out your AKs and start fighting the criminal fascist pseudo-democratic elites blah blah blah…
Thats the point it wasnt DEMOCRATIC elites Che fought- it was a corrupt form of capitalism at its worst. Batista was a mass opressor of the Cuban people who cared more for corrupt american businessmen than those living in extreme poverty in his own country. Batista was a capitalist dictator of the worst kind, not a Democrat like America likes to portray
America is our friend. Revolutionary Marxists are not our friends.
Give me Che over a corrupt american dictator any day…
Fiachra,
Any idea how many people have fled Marxist Utopia’s to go to the USA and other filthy capitalist countries?
Go to Cuba. Accuse the Castros of breaches of human rights. Do it publicly. See what happens next.
Er. Che Guevara died in 1967. What’s the situation now in Castro’s Cuba got to do with it?
michael cuthbert, are you serious?
Sometimes. What’d I say?
Surely Castro’s Cuba is part of his Guevara’s legacy?
Ah right. Arguably even Jesus couldn’t realistically be held responsible for the workings of Christianity after his death. Guevara rather less so.
Anyway, to muddy the waters further – Castro (and Hồ Chí Minh for that matter) was essentially a nationalist, anti-imperialist at the time of the conflict that overthrew Batista. The communist stuff came later, perhaps as a consequence of US hostility. An opportunity in the cold war politics of the day. I’m not defending Castro’s Cuba. Just pointing to the complexities of the history, and the skew put on it when read through Irish Catholic or US eyes…
Perhaps yer man means Shay O’Hara and not Che Guevara……..his great great grandfather was a former pig farmer from Ballinasloe who emigrated to Cuba. He struck it rich as he first made the gold bands on the old Havanas! Let’s bring back cigar smoking in pubs in commemoration.
@William L. What a plonker. Go back into hibernation. It’s only February!
The simple fact is that the actions of each man deserve their own analysis. To put George Washington, Michael Collins and Nelson Mandela into the same group as Che Guevara, Kim Il Jong or Robert Mugabe is quite simply bonkers.
But you can put Washington, Collins and Mandela in the same group?
If you wish to group them, how about Guevara & Collins; Kim Il Jong and Mugabe; Mandela and Luther King? What’s Washington doing here?
Yes Rodger don’t we speak their language………
And I don’t think the US supports the gaza blockade..
I agree with you up as far as “think”.
Nobody is defending Batista. But nobody is proposing to erect a statue to Batista in Galway either !
Or open a “Batista” restaurant either!
By the way everybody, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the american politician whose kicking up stink about this recently introduced a bill to cut off US funding to any UN organization that recognises Palestinian statehood.
I am neither left wing or right wing. When I say nobody protested I meant the left!
oh dear yanks trying to tell another country what they can and cant do. i would laugh except NOTHING makes our pathetic govt happier than doing what its told by foreign overlords.
This may be a case of the pot calling the kettle black but I wouldn’t want to see a statue to the kettle here in Ireland.
THE TRUE STORY OF CHE GUEVARA- The History Channel presentation:
From his famous motorcycle trips to his historic role in the Cuban Revolution, Argentinean revolutionary Che Guevara is profiled in a documentary produced to explore the life of the man whose visage has become an iconic symbol of hard left politics. This man, who ordered the execution of countless human beings while in charge of the notorious La Cabaña prison in Havana, who terrorized Cuban society and who denied freedom to thousands of citizens whom he considered “deviants” or “anti-revolutionaries” can never be accepted as a hero, martyr or — the shock of it — a saint.
TO SEE THE FULL DOCUMENTARY CLICK LINK
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-true-story-of-che-guevara/
216 DOCUMENTED VICTIMS OF CHÉ GUEVARA IN CUBA: 1957 TO 1959 From Armando M. Lago, Ph.D.´s – Cuba: The Human Cost of Social Revolution
http://www.cubaarchive.org/downloads/CA08.pdf
Hey Humberto, would you care to document the poor unfortunates killed when Batista used B21 bombers on his own people??? The very same bombers that the US gave to that dictatorship for defence purposes, not to kill its own people! Che Guevara is a hero that left a life of opulence to fight for the oppressed. Fulgencio Batista was a gangster and a real tyrant. HASTA LA VICTORIA SIEMPRE!!!!
What’s next for the conformist Irish-. a memorial to the much maligned Pol Pot??
At least show a bit of creativity. You needn’t be so desperate for recognition by the trendy Yank and Euro Left.
Mix it up a bit – a memorial to a great Irishman, Lord Haw. Haw would be a nice touch…
Anirudh Murali u r right! All that stupid conversations about Che, make me angry! He is the one, who sacrificed his life for the sake of humanity!!! This man had a chance to live as a king in his country, but he prefered another Way! Think, before denominating him a terrorist!!!! That is nonesense!!!!
THE ONLY THING THAT THE AMERICANS WORRY ABOUT IS IT WANTS TO DICTATE TO THE WORLD WHO THEY WANT TO PAY HOMMAGE TO WHAT ABOUT THE HUMAN RIGHT ISSUES WITH THE AMERICANS IN IRAQ,IRAN,KOREA,VIETMAN,AFGANASTAN THEY ALL HAVE BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS EVEN USING OUR AIRPORTS TO TRANSPORT P.O.Ws TO CUBA WITHOUT TRIAL YES ERECT THE STATUE HE FOUGHT FOR HIS COUNTRY LIKE OUR BRAVE LEADERS DID IN 1916 OR DO WE LET THE AMERICAN TELL US TO TAKE THEM DOWN
have your say