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February 28, 2014: Health bosses are investigating at least one more baby death at “unsafe” Portlaoise Hospital, it emerged on Friday. A HSE inquiry into the shocking deaths of four babies slammed the operation of the Midlands Regional Hospital. Following publication of the damning report Health Minister James Reilly apologised to the grieving families and vowed it would never happen to other families. He also confirmed there is “at least one more investigation” into perinatal deaths since the death of Mark Molloy in 2012. (Sarah Bardon/Irish Mirror)

May 6, 2014: The HSE has launched an investigation into the death of a baby at Cavan General Hospital last month. The hospital confirmed that “a clinical incident” occurred on Saturday 26 April in which a baby sadly died. Cavan General Hospital says it extends its deepest sympathy to the family. Hospital management have met with the family. They say they will continue to keep them informed of the ongoing management of this investigation. (Cliodhna Russell/The Journal).

October 4, 2014: The Irish health authorities have begun an investigation following the death in hospital of a newborn baby. The baby died about six weeks ago but few details of the case were released. The child was born in Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar, County Westmeath, on 16 August and died on 22 August at Dublin's National Maternity Hospital. The Health Service Executive (HSE), which runs the Republic of Ireland's public health services, confirmed it was investigating the "tragic" case. (BBC)

July 23, 2015: Baby Faith Lanphier died at Cork University Maternity Hospital when she was only five days old. Her death left her devastated parents looking for answers. The HSE has expressed its sincere regret and apology to Faith’s mum and dad, Anthony Lanphier and Linda Kelly of Holycross, Thurles, Co Tipperary. Baby Faith collapsed and died after a catheter put in to give her nutrition was placed at an incorrect low level. In an apology read to the High Court, Cork Universtiy Hospital CEO Tony McNamara said: “The Health Service Executive wishes to acknowledge its responsibility in the death of baby Faith Lanphier on May 24, 2012 at Cork University Maternity Hospital and expresses its sincere regret and apology to Faith’s parents and her wider family.” (Ann O'Loughlin/Irish Examiner)

July 27, 2016: A solicitor for the family of a baby girl, who died just 16 months after her birth, has said no money would compensate for her loss but an apology from the HSE was “priceless”. Roger Murray was speaking on Thursday after the HSE apologised in the High Court to the McFadden family from Ballymote for the death of their daughter Grace. Grace was born at Sligo at Sligo University Hospital on November 26, 2007 but died just 16 months later March 23, 2009, Mother’s Day. It was claimed she suffered a brain injury and cerebral palsy at her birth. The High Court in Dublin was told that Mary and Bartley McFadden, of Stonepark, Ballymote, had settled their case against the HSE over their daughter’s care at the time of her birth. They also sued for nervous shock. (Sligo Weekender).

November 18, 2016: A COUNTY Limerick couple whose baby daughter died around six hours after she was born at University Maternity Hopital Limerick have been awarded €98,000 in damages. Teresa and Shane Arnold of Raheen, Ballyneety sued the Health Service Executive (HSE) following the death of their daughter, Eimear, on July 15 , 2010. The settlements, which were approved in the High Court on Tuesday, were made without admission of liability. Mr Justice Kevin Cross was told the HSE had, in a letter, expressed regret to the parents and family of baby Eimear Arnold. Denis McCullough SC, representing the plaintiffs, said all of the proceedings before the court had been settled. The court heard it was claimed the baby suffered severe blood loss and there that there was an alleged failure to detect the loss of blood in a timely manner. It was further claimed that following her birth, Baby Eimear was raised above the level of the placenta in order to untangle her from the umbilical cord and that blood loss occurred during clamping of the umbilical cord. It was claimed there was failure to carry out clamping of the umbilical cord in a proper, effective and timely manner. All of the claims were denied and the settlement was without an admission of liability. (Limerick Leader).

February 6, 2017: 'Our baby died in my arms just six hours after her birth': a Limerick couple's story of loss. Eimear Arnold was born in 2010 in the Maternity and died a short time later. Was her death 'unforeseeable and unpreventable' as the HSE claims, or was 'negligence' to blame? Her parents are seeking answers. (Anne Sheridan/Limerick Leader)

May 23, 2017: A couple who have waited years to hear “we’re sorry” after their baby died at Portlaoise Hospital due to inadequate care have been left heartbroken after the HSE misspelled their names in an official letter of apology. Shauna Keyes and Joseph Cornally’s son Joshua died within an hour of his birth at the Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise on October 28, 2009. A subsequent report revealed significant failings in his care and strongly criticised the support provided to his parents following his death. The letter of apology received this week by his parents was incorrectly addressed to Shauna Keys and Joseph Connolly, not Shauna Keyes and Joseph Cornally. Following her son’s death, and a 2014 RTE Prime Time investigation exposing the failings at Portlaoise Hospital, Shauna became a member of the National Maternity Strategy Steering Group which advises on the development of maternity services nationwide. (Eoghan MacConnell/Irish Sun).

January 24, 2019: THE HSE has given an unreserved apology to the parents of tragic baby girl Ali Dowling Crowe. Ali, who was brain damaged, died two weeks after her birth four years ago. In a letter to parents Sharon Dowling and Brian Crowe read to the High Court, the HSE and St Luke's Hospital, Carlow Kilkenny said it wanted to "express an unreserved apology . . . for the failings in the care afforded to your child Baby Ali in the course of her birth at this hospital on January 17, 2015." Ali's parents settled their action for nervous shock over their daughter's death for €200,000. (Aodhan O Faolain/The Sun)

September 24, 2021: A man whose wife and newborn baby boy died in a maternity hospital has called for the HSE to ‘do the right thing’ and admit a report on the tragedy into evidence at the inquest. Marie Downey was found on the floor of her room at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) in 2019 after having an apparent epileptic fit while breastfeeding her newborn son Darragh, who was discovered under her. (Olivia Kelliher/ Evoke)

July 19, 2022: The HSE has apologised to the parents of a baby boy who died in Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda after being deprived of oxygen during a planned induction. In a statement, Danny Ryan’s mother, Brenda, spoke about how she repeatedly asked the hospital staff for help but felt she was dismissed and not listened to. Following Baby Danny’s death in October 2017, new guidelines were recommended for cases where a mother develops gestational diabetes during pregnancy. (Frank Greaney/Newstalk FM)

March 8, 2023: The Health Service Executive has formally apologised to the family of a baby girl who was delivered stillborn at University Maternity Hospital Limerick more than 15 years ago. Rebecca Collins, of Carrigaholt, County Clare, had initiated a court action against the HSE for negligence and breach of its duty of care after she was admitted to the hospital in December 2007. A settlement was approved by the High Court this Wednesday morning. HOMS Assist, the Limerick-based law firm which represented Ms Collins, has welcomed the settlement agreement. It says the ruling is further evidence of the urgent need for mandatory disclosure of medical negligence and for the Patient Safety Bill to be passed and enacted into law as quickly as possible. The company says the High Court ruling, the six-figure HSE settlement, the HSE's admission of liability and the public apology all give some final closure to Ms Collins who hopes no other victims of medical negligence will have to endure further hardship to find answers. (David Hurley/Limerick Leader).

September 22, 2023: A group campaigning for better maternity care in Ireland has called for an urgent review of maternity services at Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise. The call from the Association for Improvements in Maternity Services (AIMS Ireland) follows two medical misadventure verdicts on deaths of babies in the hospital in under two years. In the latest case, heard this week, it emerged up to three care standards were not being adhered to at the hospital. Four baby deaths there between 2006 and 2012 led to a highly critical report by former chief medical officer Tony Holohan in 2015. The babies were Katelynn Keenan, Nathan Molyneaux, Joshua Keyes-Connolly, and Mark Molloy. (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

September 27, 2023: The tragic deaths of a mother and her baby boy could have been avoided if the concerns of medical staff about her mental health had been shared with her husband, an inquest has heard. Darren Coleman told a sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court that he had endured a three-year wait as “the only member of my family alive to speak” to voice his concerns about the care his wife had received for post-natal depression and the lack of information he was given by her doctors about her condition. Mr Coleman’s wife, Nicola Keane – a 34-year-old paediatric nurse from Ballina, Co Mayo – died in the early hours of October 22, 2020. Her tragic death was captured on CCTV and her body was found on a public road. When Mr Coleman was woken a short time later by gardaí who called to the couple’s home at Shackleton Way, Lucan, Co Dublin, he discovered their seven-month-old son, Henry, in an unresponsive state in a spare bedroom. (Seán McCárthaigh/Irish Independent)

October 11, 2023: The death of a baby 34 minutes after birth in Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) has prompted recommendations for improved training on an emergency beeper system. Baby Tom Luke Moynihan died from a lack of oxygen due to placental vasa previa, a rare but potentially fatal condition that impacts one in 3,000 pregnancies. A jury of five women and one man called for additional training to be provided on an emergency call system and for receptionists to be included in training and drills in future. Concerns had been raised that a consultant was not automatically included on the beeper system. (Liz Dunphy/Irish Examiner).

October 10, 2023: A Co Waterford couple have lost their appeal against the High Court’s refusal to overturn a jury’s verdict that their newborn baby died of natural causes. The Court of Appeal on Monday upheld the lower court’s findings and refused to direct a fresh inquest into the death of Tommy Spencer. Tommy was born at University Hospital Waterford on July 14th, 2018, and died four days later at Cork University Maternity Hospital. His parents, Natasha Cummins and Aiden Spencer, said they were “aggrieved and upset” by the “irrational” inquest verdict delivered by a jury on September 10th, 2020. (Breakingnews.ie)

November 10, 2023: A hospital has apologised to the parents of a baby girl who was born on to a floor after her mother was allegedly advised to get off her bed so the sheets could be changed. The baby, Chelsie McDonagh, from Tuam, Co Galway, died five months later, the High Court heard. The apology from Galway University Hospital was read out as Chelsie’s parents, Valerie and Michael McDonagh, this week settled nervous shock actions, and her grandfather settled an action on behalf of the family over her death. (Irish Times).

December 18, 2023: Campaigners for better maternity care are urging the Government to review 21 baby deaths over the last decade amid concerns that "similar issues" have occurred in each tragedy. There has been at least 21 baby deaths in the past 10 years in Irish maternity units that were potentially avoidable. These all happened since the Portlaoise baby deaths scandal emerged in 2014, which led to the publication of new clinical guidelines for maternity units across the country. Of the 21 deaths now being highlighted, all but five resulted in a verdict of medical misadventure at inquest. Suboptimal or a lack of cardiotocography monitoring of babies’ hearts and the mothers’ contractions played a key role in almost all the deaths, according to evidence heard at the inquests. (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

December 20, 2023: The husband of a 28-year-old woman who died just four hours after delivering her baby at Mayo University Hospital has settled for €1.9 million High Court actions over her death. First-time mother, Nayyab Tariq, a microbiologist in Ireland from Pakistan, the High Court heard, suffered a massive postpartum haemhorrage, went into shock and cardiac arrest just four hours after giving birth to her daughter in 2020. Her grieving husband Ayaz Ul Hassan said he hoped this does not happen to anyone ever again. (Ann O'Loughlin/Examiner)

December 21, 2023: Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has asked health officials to meet a group of grieving mothers who are campaigning for health service reform as well as a review into 21 hospital baby deaths. The request follows concerns raised earlier this year by Safer Births Ireland about the deaths of four babies born in Portlaoise Hospital since 2013. It is also concerned about the deaths of 17 babies in other maternity units. In a number of the inquests into those 21 deaths, a verdict of medical misadventure was recorded. Asked by the Irish Examiner if the minister is planning to conduct a look-back review of the deaths, a Department of Health spokesperson said: “It is vital our health services take steps to ensure serious adverse events in maternity care are appropriately reviewed and responded to at a national level." (Neil Michael/Examiner).

December 29, 2023: At least 38 babies died in the space of nine years after serious incidents in the country’s maternity units, it has emerged. The total is based on research of both media reports of inquests and settled claims. Before Christmas, a review by the Irish Examiner revealed 21 hospital baby deaths followed one or more serious incidents, between 2013 and 2021. However, further study in the same nine-year period shows the toll to be higher. The worst year was 2018, when not only did at least 10 babies die, but three of them died at the same Dublin hospital over a five-month period. In at least 18 of the 38 deaths, issues around foetal heartbeat monitoring (CTG) were raised either at inquest or in the High Court. At least 18 of the inquests resulted in a verdict of medical misadventure. (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

January 2, 2024: There were nine empty chairs this Christmas at the dinner tables of mothers who have attended Portlaoise Hospital maternity unit in the last 17 years. Four should have been occupied by teenagers; and another four by younger children, still giddy with the magic of the holiday. The last chair should have a smiling toddler in it. Katelyn McCarthy would be 17, Dylan Franks 16, Nathan Molyneaux 15, Joshua Keyes 14, and Mark Molloy turning 12 in January. Mary Kate Kelly should be 10, Aaron Cullen seven, Luke Duffy five, and Ódhran Murphy would have been two on December 27. In each of those homes, there will always be a framed photograph, a space where another bed should have been, and teddies that lost out on cuddles from little hands. And in their parents’ hearts, there will always be a missing piece. (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

January 7, 2024: A group of bereaved mothers will join advocates for better maternity services in calling for a national inquiry into the deaths and injuries suffered by newborns in maternity units. More than 20 mothers are so far behind the call for an inquiry, which will be made formally at a press conference near the Dáil in the coming weeks. A minute’s silence in memory of babies and mothers who have died in Irish maternity units over the past number of decades will also be held. January 7, 2024: The decision to make the call comes as maternity services advocates say their requests for a more low key and faster “look back” review of potentially avoidable baby deaths “went nowhere”. (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

January 23, 2024: An inquest has heard how a couple’s life has been changed “forever” because of their baby boy’s “preventable” death. Shane Rodgers gave an emotional statement at the start of baby Noah O’Shea Rodgers’ inquest at Wexford Coroner’s Court in Gorey on Tuesday morning. In it, he spoke of the couple’s anger that a serious high blood pressure condition was not diagnosed sooner and a plan put in place to deliver their son sooner. (Neil Michael/Examiner).

January 25, 2024: A couple whose baby daughter died three days after her birth have received an apology in the High Court for the failings in care of the child at University Hospital Galway (UHG). The apology came as Marie Donnellan and her husband William Hurley, from Galway, settled actions for nervous shock and injury against the HSE over the death of their daughter, Catherine Rose Hurley, on October 17th 2020. Johnathan Kilfeather SC, instructed by Ciara McPhillips of Michael Boylan Litigation Law Firm, told the court the matter had been settled and the HSE would read an apology into the court record. (Breakingnews.ie)

January 31, 2024: The mother of a child with a rare chromosome disorder broke down in the High Court on Wednesday as she told how she feared for her daughter’s future when she settled a High Court action against a maternity hospital after 17 days at hearing. Louise O’Keeffe was told by a judge that there was a litigation risk in her case and the dilemma was if the action continued to its conclusion in March and she lost, she could face a “swingeing order for costs against her”. (Ann O'Loughlin/Examiner)

February 12, 2024: The mother of a baby boy who died during labour at Portlaoise Hospital in 2018 has called for a national inquiry into the deaths of Mothers and babies and injuries suffered by newborns in maternity units. A verdict of Medical Misadventure was recorded at the 2022 Inquest into the death of baby Luke Duffy, who was tragically delivered stillborn on the 30th October 2018 at the Midlands Regional Hospital in Portlaoise. Luke’s death was officially recorded as an intrapartum death, which is when a baby dies after the onset of labour but before they are born. (Maria Maynes/Gript).

February 13, 2024: A woman received an anonymous letter after her baby daughter’s death, telling her mistakes had been made before she was born, an inquest has heard. The exact contents of the letter were not read out, but it was referenced while Charlotte Kirwan gave evidence at the inquest into the death in Cork University Maternity Hospital of her daughter, Baby Grace, on August 10, 2022. Mrs Kirwan, from Carrick on Suir, Waterford, said: “After I got the letter, I realised that something went very, very wrong.” (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

February 14, 2024: An inquest has been told a baby died after a “medical mistake” before she was born. This was according to a registrar who delivered Baby Grace Kirwan at University Hospital Waterford (UHW). On the second day of her inquest at the Cork City Coroner’s Court on Washington Street, Dr Mahmoud Mustafa said the fact that Baby Grace was in the breech — bottom first — position had gone undiagnosed until he was called on to assist in her delivery on August 6, 2022. (Neil Michael/Examiner).

February 18, 2024: One of Ireland’s long-serving health advocates is backing calls for a commission of investigation into hospital baby deaths. Róisín Molloy said it would be the "logical next step" after the ten-year maternity service reforms herself and husband Mark have fought for since their son Mark died in 2012. He was one of five babies who died in the Portlaoise baby deaths scandal, which broke in 2014, and which centred around deaths between 2006 and 2012. They and other parents lobbied for a variety of changes that led to Ireland’s first National Maternity Strategy. The Irish Examiner has, however, discovered there have been multiple more potentially avoidable baby deaths and injuries in maternity units around the country since 2013. (Neil Michael/Examiner).

February 20, 2024: An obstetrician at Cork University Maternity Hospital has admitted an “earlier intervention” into what was repeatedly flagged as a high-risk pregnancy would have meant a baby would have been "born alive", an inquest has heard. The inquest was told failures were admitted to by CUMH at a meeting with Emma Cosgrove, whose son Kyle was born and declared dead about 40 minutes later at 2.45pm on September 9, 2020. Some of those failures, for which the inquest heard CUMH have since apologised, included a failure by some staff to recognise a critical trace result from the Cardiotocography (CTG) used to monitor Kyle’s heartbeat and Ms Cosgrove’s contractions during her pregnancy and labour. The inquest before Cork City coroner Philip Comyn also heard a member of staff who tried to save him said he gave just “one weak agonal gasp” and was born in “very poor condition”. Ms Cosgrove, 40 recalled being told later that her son “had to have been struggling for a long time”. (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

February 21, 2024: A verdict of death by natural causes on a baby girl who survived for only two days in Dublin’s Rotunda Hospital was recorded by the Dublin District Coroner on Wednesday. Khadiga Mohamed Elhosseiny Elsherif was delivered by emergency Caesarean section on November 14th, 2019 after doctors detected a low foetal heartbeat. Coroner Dr Clare Keane was told the baby’s mother, Dr Samar Eltali, had been attending a routine antenatal clinic at 39 weeks and six days gestation when a routine scan showed the baby’s heartbeat was just 60 beats per minute. (Tim O'Brien/Irish Times).

February 24, 2024: A REVIEW has been launched at University Hospital Limerick following the death of a woman. Hospital bosses are currently reviewing the circumstances surrounding the death of a 33-year-old woman at UHL last weekend. The inquiry is the second to be launched at the hospital in a week following the inquiry into the death of a 16-year-old girl in January. It is understood that the 33-year-old from County Clare was initially admitted to University Maternity Hospital Limerick on Friday, February 16 before being transferred to UHL the following day. It is understood that she underwent an angiogram and several other tests, including blood tests, to check for infection or possible sepsis. It is understood the angiogram did not show anything of concern. The woman and her husband were later informed that they had lost their baby. It is reported that the following day, the woman suffered a cardiac arrest. Her condition had deteriorated rapidly. The death of the young woman has devastated her family and local community in County Clare. (Cathal Doherty/Limerick Leader).

March 7, 2024: A couple told of their heartbreak after opportunities to save the life of their baby boy were missed at Cork University Maternity Hospital. Elijah O’Sullivan died on May 6, 2022 a day after his mother Rachel Harrington presented to the hospital’s emergency department. It was the second time she had gone to the ED because her son had either stopped moving or was showing reduced movement, Cork City Coroner’s Court heard. Although she was kept in overnight and regularly monitored, a cardiotocography (CTG) of her baby's heart rate was later found to have been misinterpreted by one or more maternity staff. In addition to being wrongly interpreted as “normal” instead of “pathological”, indicating a potential need for immediate intervention, such as a Caesarean Section, the CTG was also stopped. (Neil Michael/Examiner).

March 7, 2024: The HSE is to send a letter of apology to the parents of a newborn baby who died at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) shortly after his birth. An inquest into the death of Baby Kyle Dixon was told two weeks ago that failures were later admitted by CUMH at a meeting with the mother of Baby Kyle, who was born on September 9th, 2020, and pronounced dead about one hour and 18 minutes later. At the High Court on Thursday, Baby Kyle’s parents Emma Cosgrove and Kevin Dixon, of Ballincollig, Co Cork, settled a legal action over the death of their newborn son. Their counsel, Bruce Antoniotti SC, instructed by solicitor Amy Langan, told the court that the case had been settled after mediation. He said as part of the settlement it had been agreed a letter of apology would be sent by the HSE to Baby Kyle’s parents. (BreakingNews.ie/Irish Times)

March 10, 2024: A couple whose baby died in Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) nearly two years ago are backing calls for a commission of inquiry into avoidable baby deaths at the country's maternity hospitals. Baby Elijah O’Sullivan died on May 6, 2022, a day after his mother Rachel Harrington presented to the hospital’s emergency department. An inquest into his death on Thursday at Cork City Coroner’s Court heard that several opportunities to save the baby boy's life were missed. The Douglas couple, who are now suing the hospital, say the first time anybody from CUMH apologised to them was at Elijah’s inquest, when a barrister read a brief apology out on behalf of CUMH. (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

March 19, 2024: An advocacy group has called for a review of existing nationwide data around adverse events in instrument-assisted births. The call from Safer Births Ireland follows a review of nine such births in University Hospital Galway which included incidents where babies suffered fractured skulls during birth. This was after a suction cup was attached to their heads and pulled on to help in what is called a ventouse or vacuum-assisted delivery. The practice is still used in around 9% of births. (Neil Michael/Examiner)

March 27, 2024: Hospital baby injury claims as well as the cost of so-called “slips and falls” in hospitals are expected to pass the €4bn mark in June. This is when figures on the State’s estimated outstanding liability for accidents in Irish hospitals are due to be published. But medical negligence lawyers claim the figures could be much lower if hospitals came clean about mistakes sooner. Coleman Legal’s managing partner Dave Coleman said: “We would see fewer cases come before the courts if hospitals were far more open and upfront. (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner)

April 16, 2024: A 25-year-old man with cerebral palsy who sued over the circumstances of his birth at Rotunda Hospital, Dublin has settled his High Court action for €9 million. The man needs constant care, the court was told. (Tim Healy/Independent)

April 23, 2024: Campaigners for better maternity services have launched a national campaign to get Taoiseach Simon Harris to hold a Commission of Investigation into avoidable mother and baby deaths in hospitals. An alliance made up of Safer Births Ireland, Feileacain, Aims Ireland, and the Birth Rights Alliance formally launched their call for the inquiry at an event in Leinster House hosted by Social Democrats Health Spokesperson Roisin Shortall. The alliance, which also includes medical negligence experts, lawyer Caoimhe Haughey and barrister Lisa Ann Wilkinson, wants maternity ward deaths and injuries since at least as far back as 2013 investigated. (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

May 15, 2024: The Health Service Executive has apologised to the family of a 34-year-old nurse with severe postnatal depression, who killed her baby son and took her own life in Dublin almost four years ago. Nicola Keane, who was a paediatric nurse in Crumlin Children's Hospital, killed her seven-month-old son Henry on 22 October 2020 and then left her home in Lucan, and took her own life while her husband slept. The Chief Officer of the HSE’s Community Mental Health Services for Dublin South, Kildare and West Wicklow apologised unreservedly to Ms Keane’s husband, Darren Coleman, and all her family for the care she had received. It said this had resulted in the tragic and untimely death of Ms Keane and their son Henry. (Orla O'Donnell/RTE).

June 18, 2024: A verdict of medical misadventure had been recorded in the death of a six-day-old baby after a maternity hospital admitted failings in its care led to the little girl suffering fatal brain damage during labour. Baby Molly Taylor Smith died from hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy - a lack of oxygen or blood to the brain – at the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, in Dublin on 19 May 2020 - six days after being delivered by emergency Caesarean section. At the outset of the inquest into baby Molly's death at Dublin District Coroner’s Court, an apology was read out on behalf of the National Maternity Hospital. (RTE)

July 13, 2024: An inquiry has been launched into still and newborn baby deaths over a three-year period. The National Women and Infants Health Programme (NWIHP) is due to start the inquiry later this year. The body, which leads maternity, gynaecology, and neonatal services, is currently working on the terms of reference. Described as a “confidential inquiry”, it will look into cases identified from existing perinatal death audit data from the National Perinatal Epidemiology Centre (NPEC), based in Cork. The inquiry will be overseen by members of the NWIHP and NPEC as well as members of the public. A HSE spokesperson told the Irish Examiner: "The enquiry will report on three years’ worth of data at a time. It will commence this year and report on the period 2021-2023. (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

July 18, 2024: The HSE has confirmed a confidential review into baby and maternal deaths during childbirth covering the years 2021 to 2023 will start later this year. However, campaign group Safer Births Ireland, for women and families affected by baby deaths, has called for the Government to set up an independent review into perinatal deaths. Safer Births Ireland said there had been a substantial number of baby deaths in the last ten years, which have been documented by inquests, clinical reviews, court cases and reported in the media. (Fergal Bowers/RTE)

July 18, 2024: THE HSE IS to conduct a review into baby and maternal deaths during childbirth over a three-year period. The review, described as a “confidential inquiry”, will begin later this year and will cover the years 2021 to 2023, with an updated report published annually. The National Women and Infants Health Programme (NWIHP), which leads the delivery of maternity, gynaecology and neonatal services in Ireland, is currently developing terms of reference for the review. The HSE said there will be public and patient involvement in the review process, which will need to assess case notes. To do this, expert assessors will be drawn from obstetrics, midwifery, neonatology, neonatal nursing, perinatal pathology, foetal medicine and other specialties. No assessor will be assigned a case involving their own hospital. But a campaign organisation has called for an independent inquiry into perinatal and maternal deaths and birth injuries over a ten-year period to be set up. Safer Births Ireland, an advocacy group for women and families who have been affected by baby deaths, said that while the HSE review is “welcomed progress”, they are concerned it will not be sufficient and questioned why it is confidential. (Jane Moore/The Journal).

July 19, 2024: A review of perinatal deaths will be ongoing, with anonymised findings to be published, the clinical director of the HSE National Women and Infant’s Health programme said. Dr Cliona Murphy made the comments after the HSE confirmed that a review into baby and maternal deaths between 2021 and 2023 will get underway later this year. It comes after campaign group Safer Births Ireland raised concerns about the number of perinatal deaths in recent years. An Irish Examiner report highlighted 51 cases since 2013 where baby deaths resulted in High Court proceedings after their inquests pointed to failings in care, including issues around foetal heartbeat monitoring and high-risk mothers not being treated as such. (Irish Medical Times)

Aug, 6, 2024: The HSE has carried out reviews into almost 500 baby deaths and birth-related brain injuries over the past four years. A large number of the reviews (247) focused on stillborn babies, or those who died within a week of being born, between 2020 and 2023. The deaths of a further 241 babies, who either died within a month of birth or who survived but suffered brain dysfunction, were also investigated. Two organisations campaigning for reform of maternity services, Safer Births Ireland and AIMS Ireland, are seeking an independent inquiry into avoidable baby deaths. All 488 cases referenced in a Freedom of Information request by the Irish Examiner were classified as care management events, which fall into the HSE category of Serious Reportable Events (SREs). They were reported to the HSE’s National Incident Management System (NIMS). Some are defined as “serious incidents” that “may result in death or serious harm” while others are “serious incidents” which need to be examined to determine if “safety was compromised”. (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner)

August 8, 2024: The HSE has said it does not know the outcome of investigations into almost 500 baby deaths and birth-related brain injuries over the past four years. The Irish Examiner has confirmed that between 2020 and 2023, investigations were conducted in 488 cases where a baby was either stillborn, died within a month of birth, or suffered brain dysfunction. The majority of the investigations have been completed but when asked what proportion of probes resulted in a negative finding, the HSE said the information is held locally in each hospital and not collated centrally on any HSE system. Advocates for improved maternity services say they are "gobsmacked" that the HSE does not know the outcomes of the cases. All 488 cases were classified as care management events, which fall into the HSE category of Serious Reportable Events (SREs). (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

November 3, 2024: Additional education is to be provided to parents and clinical staff in relation to measures which can be taken to minimise the risk of sudden unexplained postnatal collapse (SUPC) after a review by the Rotunda Hospital of a case in which a newborn baby boy died. The Dublin Coroner’s Court has been told that no cause could be established for the sudden collapse in the case of Ollie Buckley, who was born on the evening of September 25th, 2022. Just four such collapses on average occur each year in Ireland involving full- or near full-term babies who are born well. The collapse involves an unexpected issue relating to heart or lung function that leaves babies suddenly pale and limp. (Emmet Malone/Irish Times).

December 9, 2024: Baby Alfie O’Reilly left hospital in his mother’s arms as she and his father drove home with his tiny white coffin in the boot of the car. He had lived for just four days but, over four years later, his memory is as clear as ever for Amanda and Aidan. They visit him often in the graveyard near their home in Midleton, East Cork. They and his siblings Emilia, Sophie, and Brody will be there on Christmas morning as they have been every Christmas. (Niamh Griffin/Irish Examiner).

January 29, 2025: Safer Births Ireland has again called for a review of HSE baby deaths and injuries in the wake of the the latest probe into the treatment of nine babies at Portiuncula University Hospital. It is the second review of its kind in just over a decade and centres around another above-normal level of babies being referred by the hospital for cooling therapy used to treat babies brain damaged due to a lack of oxygen just before or after birth. The advocacy group, which is made up of mothers whose children died or were injured in maternity units around Ireland, said there needs to be a “comprehensive review” of maternity services nationwide. A spokesperson said: “We are lost for words and so deeply sorry to the families who have been impacted by the loss and injuries of their babies at Portiuncula. Accountability and change are necessary. (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

February 3, 2025: Health service failings that led to five deaths in the 2014 Portlaoise baby deaths scandal also contributed to life-changing injuries to up to 80 babies and cost the State up to €320m in compensation, according to a review of catastrophic baby injury claims. The review, by the State Claims Agency (SCA), found nurses failed to monitor fetal heart rates “appropriately” in just over half of claims the agency reviewed. It also noted staff “failed to interpret or recognise” abnormal CTG trace results in more than 60% of claims over a five-year period. In addition, 77% of claims related to injuries sustained before or during labour where there was a delayed delivery. The SCA also noted that 43% of the 80 claims reviewed also involved women whose labour was “accelerated” by one of, or both of, two common labour-inducing methods. (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

February 7, 2025: There were “missed opportunities” to prevent the death of an unusually large baby who was “so wanted, so planned” after her mother’s uterus was ruptured during labour five years ago, a coroner has concluded. The Midlands Regional Hospital in Mullingar issued an apology at a sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Friday for “deficiencies in the care” provided to the baby girl and her mother, Ceire Foran. A verdict of medical misadventure was recorded into the death of the baby girl, Rú, who died at the Coombe Hospital in Dublin on June 5, 2020 three days after she was delivered by an emergency Caesarean section at the hospital in Mullingar. The inquest heard a growth scan planned for 36 weeks into Ms Foran’s pregnancy, which would have alerted medical staff that the baby was large, had not been performed. A pathologist, John Gillan, who carried out a postmortem on the infant’s body, said the rupturing of Ms Foran’s uterus was linked to the size of her baby who weighed 4.82kg at birth. (Seán McCárthaigh/The Journal).

February 10, 2025: Five times more baby deaths and baby birth-related injuries were reported to the HSE in 2023 compared to 2016, new figures reveal. A total of 18 maternity-related so-called “care management events” involving the babies were reported in 2016, compared to 94 in 2023. The figures, released to the Irish Examiner under Freedom of Information legislation, relate solely to near-term and term babies weighing more than 2,500g or 5.5lbs. In total, there were 655 Serious Reportable Events (SREs) involving babies reported to the HSE in the last eight years. Although the latest annual figure is down from a peak of 153 in 2020, the steady rise in SREs from 2016 through to 2023 has been despite a 15% decline in Ireland's birth rate over the same period. Due to the way deaths and injuries are categorised, it is not possible to say exactly how many SREs over the eight-year period involved a baby death and exactly how many involved a baby injury. However, the statistics confirm two specific pieces of information about the SREs since 2016. (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

February 17, 2025: Maternity services reform advocates have backed a call for an independent review into stillbirths at Mayo University Hospital (MUH). On Monday, the Irish Examiner found there were seven stillbirths there in 2023. The Irish Examiner has learned external reviews have been commissioned into two stillbirths at Mayo University Hospital (MUH) that year. The HSE also conducted additional internal reviews into another five stillbirths there in 2023. The anomaly and the number of stillbirths prompted a call by HSE Regional Health Forum West board member and Mayo county councillor Michael Kilcoyne for an external review by a team independent of the HSE. Roisin Molloy, whose baby son Mark was one of a number of healthy babies to die at Portlaoise Hospital between 2006 and 2012 after maternity staff failings there, has also called on Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill to make a clear and “unambiguous” statement about the stillbirths. (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

February 17, 2025: The HSE has commissioned reviews into stillbirths at another hospital run by a healthcare group already at the centre of a major baby safety probe. The Irish Examiner has learned external reviews have been commissioned into two stillbirths at Mayo University Hospital (MUH) in 2023. These are on top of a major review at Galway’s Portiuncula University Hospital, which — like MUH — is also run by the Saolta University Healthcare Group. As well as commissioning external reviews at the Mayo hospital, the HSE also conducted additional internal reviews into another five stillbirths there in 2023. This was, in part, because all five occurred in the last three months of that year. Although the HSE has told the Irish Examiner that no “commonalities” among cases reviewed have been found, there are now calls for an independent external review. (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

February 27, 2025: Hundreds of stillbirths and newborn baby deaths are being left out of maternity safety declarations every year by maternity units, the Irish Examiner has learned. This is because only the deaths of babies weighing over 2.5kg (5.5lbs) are declared on HSE monthly Maternity Patient Safety Statements (MPSS), while any baby lighter than that isn't declared at all. This means the deaths of newborn babies, including stillbirths, who weigh around the same weight as other babies whose deaths were the subject of major HSE investigations in the past do not have to be declared. This is regardless of how viable they may have been before they died. The 2010 stillbirth of baby Asha Reilly, one of 18 babies whose care was the subject of the damning 2018 Walker Report, would not — for example — have to be declared today on an MPSS. Her mother Lorraine said she weighed just 1.4kg (3.11lbs) when she was stillborn at Galway’s Portiuncula Hospital on March 8, 2008. (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

March 2, 2025: When news broke the HSE was investigating baby births in Portiuncula University Hospital, Lorraine Reilly was among a group of mothers who froze in their tracks. As someone whose experience of maternity services left her suffering from PTSD, she says the news re-traumatised her. Then hearing a few weeks later that reviews have also been held into seven stillbirths at Mayo University Hospital, another Saolta University Health Care Group hospital, just — as she puts it — “compounded the re-trauma”. Her daughter Asha was stillborn at Portiuncula in 2008. Just under two years later, her baby Amber died six days after being born at the Galway hospital in 2010. “You hear what is happening in Portiuncula, and it just takes you right back to your own trauma,” she said. (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

March 08, 2025: The health service will be asked, at Monday’s launch of the National Survey on Births in Ireland, to acknowledge that a problem of obstetric violence exists in Irish hospitals. Among the key findings in the report are issues around women who were neither asked for or gave their consent for medical procedures. Health researcher Dr Susann Huschke of University of Limerick’s School of Medicine, said: “The first thing the health service needs to do is acknowledge there is a problem. (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

March 10, 2025: The health service needs to reduce the “medicalisation” of childbirth in Ireland, according to authors of the report on the National Survey on Birth in Ireland. Launched at University of Limerick, those attending heard that while it is accepted medical interventions can be lifesaving, the main issue of concern is “how often they are used and the lack of options being offered to women”. One of the authors, Pam Davis of the Birth Rights Alliance Ireland, pointed to evidence from the survey of a “lack of individualised care” and “a lack of evidenced-based backing” behind decisions being made. (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

March 27, 2025: A Kildare woman has told an inquest that she believed her stillborn son would still be alive if she had received proper care by medical staff at the Midlands Regional Hospital in Portlaoise during her pregnancy. Chelsea Brereton gave evidence at a sitting of Laois Coroners Court that she left the hospital “broken, confused and consumed with grief,” on April 15th 2020 after being informed that her baby boy was dead in her womb. “It was the worst day of my life that I’ve replayed in my head for five years,” said Ms Brereton. Her son, Mason, was delivered stillborn the following day. Ms Brereton, who comes from Sallins, Co Kildare, gave evidence that was highly critical of the treatment she received at the hospital in Portlaoise as well as the fact that her baby’s organs were retained after a postmortem against the express instructions of her and her partner, Jamie Dunne. The inquest heard she was discharged “in agony and overwhelmed with anxiety” from the hospital five days before learning her son had died in her womb at a time she had “begged” for labour to be induced. (Seán McCárthaigh/Breakingnews.ie)

April 3, 2025: An inquest has heard a baby would have been “born alive” if delivered earlier than his due date. Timmy McCarthy suffered a “progressively" tightening knot in his umbilical chord that became “acute” and caused “irreversible damage”. This was according to Dr John Gillan, who undertook an autopsy after the baby died at Portlaoise Hospital on August 14, 2020. The pathologist was asked by Damien Tansey, senior counsel for Timmy’s parents Eimear and Eddie, if he had been delivered sooner, would he have survived? (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

April 7, 2025: When Eleanor McCarthy's baby Timmy died on August 14, 2020, she was distraught. However, when she was called a few months before what should have been his second birthday and asked to come back into the hospital to collect his organs, she felt traumatised and shocked. After he had died, she had signed a consent form for there to be an autopsy. Given the trauma she endured before his stillbirth at Portlaoise Hospital, she was barely cognisant of what she had actually signed. (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

April 13, 2025: A verdict of medical misadventure had been recorded into the death of a baby after an inquest heard there was a “litany of failings” in attempts to resuscitate the girl in the first critical 15 minutes of her life following her birth at University Hospital Galway. Lawyers for the baby’s family also claimed there was a failure to identify and escalate issues during her mother’s induction and labour which had resulted in an “entirely preventable” death. The baby girl, Catherine Rose Hurley, died at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin on October 17th 2020 – three days after her birth at UHG. Counsel for UHG, Luán Ó Braonáin SC, read out an apology on behalf of the hospital’s general manager, Chris Kane, to the baby’s parents Marie Donnellan and William Hurley at the conclusion of a two-day inquest at Dublin District Coroner’s Court last week. (Seán McCárthaigh/Breakingnews.ie).

July 2, 2025: A new inquest into the death of Aaron Cullen, a baby who died five days after his birth, has been opened after new evidence was secured by his mother concerning resuscitation equipment. An initial inquest returned a narrative verdict, however, opening the inquest on Tuesday, coroner Dr Myra Cullinane said the Attorney General directed that a fresh inquiry be heard to clarify factual evidence “that was not before the court previously”. Aaron died at the Coombe Hospital in Dublin following an emergency Caesarean section at the Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise in May 2016. Ms Cullen, who told the inquest that the death of her son “shattered our hearts”, recalled reporting various concerns in the lead up to the birth, including a lack of movement and intense Braxton Hicks contractions over the two weeks before the birth. (Jack White/Irish Times).

August 25, 2025: Cork University Maternity Hospital staff have apologized to the mother of a baby who died in their care for delays she later faced when trying to find out what had changed at the hospital since his death. The apology comes more than 16 months after the March 2024 inquest into Elijah O’Sullivan’s death on May 6, 2022, recorded a verdict of medical misadventure. The Cork City Coroner's Court heard opportunities to save him were missed by staff a day after first-time mother Rachel Harrington, aged 25 at the time, presented to the hospital’s emergency department. Although she was kept overnight and regularly monitored, a cardiotocography (CTG) of her baby's heart rate was later found to have been misinterpreted by one or more medics. (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

October 16, 2025: The family of a 12-month-old child who died in the care of Cavan General Hospital over two years ago say his death could have been prevented. A verdict of medical misadventure was returned at the inquest of baby Luke Kelly, who died at the hospital in July 2023. Speaking after the inquest, his mother Helena Lyons said Luke was "our precious little warrior who fought time and time again to come home to us". (Marc O'Driscoll/RTE).

October 16, 2025: An inquest into the death of a 12-month-old child, who was in the care of Cavan General Hospital at the time, has heard he went 18 hours without a physical examination by a consultant despite his condition deteriorating. The first day of the inquest into the death of Luke Kelly has concluded with witnesses set to resume giving evidence tomorrow morning. His parents Barry Kelly and Helena Lyons from Shantemon, Co Cavan were present at the inquest. They described their son as a "courageous little hero" who was the most "beautiful, smiley, placid child that any parent could ask for". The inquest heard that baby Luke had Shone's syndrome, a rare congenital heart defect, and he underwent major surgery at Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) at Crumlin on two occasions. (Marc O'Driscoll/RTE).

October 16, 2025: A verdict of death by medical misadventure has been returned at the inquest into the death of an infant at Cavan General Hospital more than two years ago. Baby Luke Kelly passed away at the local hospital facility on July 5, 2023, having developed pneumonia and despite having overcome open heart surgery weeks earlier. He was just weeks shy of his first birthday. The County Coroner, Dr Mary Flanagan, said the “only option available” was to return a verdict of medical misadventure in the case. The inquest was heard over two days - Wednesday and Thursday - at Cavan Courthouse. (Zoe Tunney/Anglo Celt).

October 17, 2025: The Irish Patients' Association (IPA) has said the inquest into the death of baby Luke Kelly has exposed not just individual shortcomings in the health service but "a deeper systemic failure". It comes after a verdict of medical misadventure was returned by the coroner for Co Cavan, Dr Mary Flanagan, after hearing two days of evidence. Dr Flanagan said this evidence was reflective of the "admitted and acknowledged" deficiencies in management that had been identified at Cavan General Hospital. (Marc O'Driscoll/RTE).

November 13, 2025: Hiqa has been notified of the unexpected deaths of two expectant or new mothers and 19 stillborn or newborn babies under new hospital reporting rules. Their deaths are among 123 notifications the health watchdog received since mandatory Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023 reporting requirements came into force in September last year. The act requires serious adverse events resulting in unanticipated deaths, or outcomes of traumatic births, to be notified to Hiqa by healthcare service providers. The notifications received so far include 39 for patients who died in unintended circumstances. They were classified as healthy patients undergoing surgery, patients whose deaths were directly related to medical treatment, or patients who died after a medicinal error. (Neil Michael/Irish Examiner).

December 6, 2025: HSE CEO Bernard Gloster has apologised to Cork couple Rebecca and Pat Kiely for the death of their baby Christopher in 2019 and will shortly announce an external review into the tragedy. In March 2019, the Kielys were told the unborn child Rebecca was carrying had a fatal foetal abnormality and would not survive the pregnancy or would die within a day of delivery. The advice given was it would be best to proceed with a termination. Two weeks after the procedure, a final result came through from tests that had shown up the abnormality. Instead of confirming the result, which they had been told was definitive, this showed that a catastrophic error had been made. Their unborn baby, a boy, was healthy. (Niamh Griffin /Irish Examiner).

December 6, 2025: ‘Our son would be 6 years old today’: Parents welcome apology from HSE after terminating baby who did not have fatal foetal abnormality. Rebecca Price and Patrick Kiely with an address in Phibsboro, Dublin pictured outside the Four Courts Photo: Collins Courts. Rebecca Price and Patrick Kiely with an address in Phibsboro, Dublin pictured outside the Four Courts Photo: Collins Courts. An independent external review is being ordered by the HSE in to the case of a couple who terminated their pregnancy over six years ago after being wrongly advised the unborn baby had a fatal foetal abnormality. HSE chief Bernard Gloster said today he had recently met with the unborn baby’s parents Rebecca and Pat Kiely and provided them with a full apology on behalf of the health service following the loss of their baby Christopher in 2019. (Eilish O'Regan/Irish Independent).