Cork woman criticises maternity restrictions after experiencing two miscarriages alone

The first occurred last year.

A woman in Cork has called out the government over Covid restrictions after she was forced to endure two miscarriages alone. The woman says that after going through the heartbreaking situation twice, her husband never even got to hear their baby's heartbeat due to the harsh restrictions imposed on maternity wards during the pandemic. Maternity hospitals across Ireland are still under strict restrictions that don't allow partners of expecting mothers to go to maternity appointments with them. Susan O'Riordan revealed to Newstalk that over the last year she has suffered two miscarriages as she watched other mothers leave with their newborns. Explaining how she had the first of the two this time last year, a molar pregnancy, she needed more scans and blood tests than a regular pregnancy. In one procedure, in which an epidural was used rather than a general anaesthetic due to Covid, she explained how they needed to remove tissue from her womb. Going through the traumatic experience alone, it was again in March when she went for another scan on her second pregnancy that no heartbeat was detected. She told The Hard Shoulder, speaking outside Cork University Maternity Hospital: "I went in for the scan and the heartbeat had stopped - my husband never got to hear that baby's heartbeat. "They said 'We can ring him,' but we live the bones of an hour away and he'd our son at home. "I just wanted to get out of there and so I had to go outside, and I had to phone him and tell him that we'd lost that baby as well". Susan also explained how she miscarried in her own mother's driveway and being immediately rushed to A&E, where she spent three days recovering and coming to terms with her loss all without any support. She and countless other expectant mothers and partners are calling for these restrictions to be eased. HSE Chief Clinical Officer Dr Colm Henry said last week he is "hopeful of compliance in the next week or two" after new guidelines were announced. Not all of the country's maternity hospitals are allowing partners full access to wards under the new guidelines.