Elective caesarean sections are not due to cease at Daisy Hill Hospital, Newry say the Southern Trust.
The confirmation provided to Armagh I comes amid rumours that there were proposals to end the provision on the hospital’s maternity ward.
Curious to know more, Newry and Armagh MLA Justin McNulty contacted the Minister for Health to ask for the rationale behind the alleged proposals.
He also asked the Minister to detail the number of caesarean surgeries performed, in each of the last five years, broken down by hospital.
In October 2022, former Health Minister Robin Swann announced that Daisy Hill had been appointed as a regional elective overnight stay centre for patients requiring planned surgeries.
Daisy Hill has four in-patient theatres, along with dedicated endoscopy and a paediatric theatre and, whilst increasing surgical activity, the team also hoped to improve access to gynaecology and early pregnancy services.
Speaking at the time of Mr Swann’s announcement, Clinical Director for Anaesthetics at Daisy Hill Hospital, Dr Aidan Cullen, said: “We have a very strong and enthusiastic anaesthetics team at Daisy Hill supporting all planned and emergency surgical activity, the busy maternity service and other wards and departments, 24 hours a day.
“We already support the area wide elective caesarean section service from Daisy Hill and continue to work with surgical colleagues to introduce more theatre lists across a range of specialties.
“We continue to work with colleagues regionally in developing our plans for the elective overnight centre to achieve better outcomes for patients living across the Southern area and beyond.”
So while the Trust had been working towards making the Newry hospital a centre for elective surgeries over the last four years, it struck Armagh I as odd that they would even consider a move so at odds with their previous plans.
Seeking clarification on the matter, Armagh I contacted the Southern Trust and asked whether there were indeed plans to cease elective caesarean surgeries.
A spokesperson for the Southern Trust said simply: “There are no proposals to end the provision of elective caesarean section (CS) surgeries at the maternity unit in Daisy Hill Hospital.”
According to statistics published by the Public Health Agency, approximately 38% of infants are delivered annually by caesarean section. Of those, an average of 19% are elective c-sections with the remaining constituting emergency surgeries.
According to the NHS website there are several reasons why elective surgery may be recommended the best and safest option for expectant mothers and their babies and, as such, elective caesareans remain an important healthcare option.
A caesarean may be carried out because:
- baby is in the breech position (feet first) and your doctor or midwife has been unable to turn them by applying gentle pressure to your tummy
- low-lying placenta (placenta praevia)
- pregnancy-related high blood pressure (pre-eclampsia)
- infections, such as a first genital herpes infection occurring late in pregnancy or untreated HIV
- baby is not getting enough oxygen and nutrients
- labour is not progressing or there’s excessive vaginal bleeding
