Ireland’s maternity system is on the brink of one of its biggest transformations in decades, as plans to phase out private maternity care begin to take shape. 

The change aims to create a fairer and more consistent experience for expecting mothers, but it has sparked mixed reactions from the public.

Professor Shane Higgins explained on Lunchtime Live that since March 2023, the Government has introduced the Public-Only Consultant Contract. 

This means that any consultant appointed since then can no longer conduct private practice in a public hospital.

“Maternity services will be one of the most affected areas,” he said. 

“There is no separate private maternity hospital in Ireland. 

So in a relatively short space of time, patients will no longer have the option of private maternity care,” he explained. 

'Choice is being taken away'

Tara Whelan, founder of Resilient Emotions, works with women experiencing birth trauma, an issue she herself faced.

She described to Andrea two very different maternity experiences, one with public care for her first child, and one with private care for her second:

“My consultant retired during my first pregnancy and didn’t even tell us. 

During the delivery, there were a lot of delays and that led to complications, which led to my child getting sepsemia and almost dying," she told the show.

When she became pregnant again just 13 months later, Tara said she couldn’t face returning to the public system.

“With private care, my consultant was present during delivery, did the suturing, and my recovery was much faster. There were no complications.”

She stressed that birth outcomes can vary in both systems, but the critical issue is choice.

“I don’t know why that choice is being taken away. Women need to feel safe, if the basics were right, it wouldn’t matter whether care was public or private.”

Continuity of care

Dr. Krysia Lynch, a maternity rights advocate and Doula, argued that private maternity care offers one key benefit: The continuity of care.

“You’re guaranteed to see the same person throughout your pregnancy. That continuity is very difficult to find elsewhere in our maternity services.”

She highlighted wider problems within the system:

“We don’t have enough resources. Many women around the country simply don’t have access to the same level of choice.

"[People] in Sligo or Donegal, they don't have the choices.

I mean, we have some choices in Dublin, but they have none."

Listener Sinead Hingston shared a powerful account of her experience at The National Maternity Hospital:

The National Maternity Hospital. Pictured The National Maternity Hospital (Holles Street) in Dublin. Photograph: Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie

“I’ve had three very different pregnancies and four miscarriages,” she told the show. 

During her last pregnancy she went to the TLC clinic in Holles Street, where she was seen by the same doctor for every appointment. 

“I can’t even tell you the difference it made for that pregnancy,” she said.

She believes removing the option of private care would be a step backwards.

“It’s 2025, women should be able to choose public or private.

To take that away from women, it’s very wrong.”

Change within the public system? 

When asked if the removal of the private system would help to strenghten the public system, Tara disagreed. 

“No - because the HSE isn’t accountable.

There are recommendations and packages, but nothing changes unless there is real accountability. Staff need support,” she said. 

“They need to put in adequate resources. And will that happen? I don't think so.”

Written by Annemarie Roberts