Sinn Féin TD for Kildare North Réada Cronin TD has said she is deeply concerned by differences between a HSE response to an urgent Parliamentary Question concerning pregnant women and Covid-19 received on Friday, and comments made by the Master of the Rotunda Hospital in the Irish Independent this morning.

She has called on the Minister for Health and the HSE to clarify immediately.  

Teachta Cronin said:

“On Friday, the HSE wrote to me that pregnant women with Covid-19 are ‘slightly more likely’ to develop serious complications than non-pregnant women.

“But this morning, Professor Fergal Malone of the Rotunda Hospital is quoted saying in the Irish Independent that ‘there are significant risks associated with Covid-19 in pregnancy in terms of the mother getting very sick and in terms of placentitis and potential stillbirths. Those are real, we have seen it time and time again.’

“Both these positions of ‘slight’ and ‘significant’ risk cannot be correct, and women need to know which position represents official public health advice.

“I have been seeking urgent information about Covid-19, pregnant women and ICU admissions, both from the Minister for Health and the HSE for some time now.

“I got the ‘slight’ response to one question and no reply at all to my detailed question regarding ICU admissions. I wrote again to the HSE on Friday seeking the numbers which have now been issued to the media, but which have not been issued in response to Parliamentary Questions. That is not acceptable.

“Pregnant women and the people who love them and treat them need to know what the HSE’s position is, and the Minister for Health and the HSE need to clarify this immediately.”