Abortion case raises concern on how foetal abnormalities are diagnosed
CONCERNS have been raised about varying diagnoses among doctors in relation to fatal foetal abnormalities after a woman was refused an abortion at a Dublin hospital.
On Friday, Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger told the Dáil that a woman was planning to travel to Britain for an abortion after being refused a termination of pregnancy at the Coombe Hospital in Dublin, despite initially being told that her foetus had a fatal abnormality.
The Dublin woman at the centre of the case told The Irish Times that she was informed that her foetus would not survive outside of the womb, as it has a fatal foetal abnormality, discovered during a scan on January 10.
‘Woman was refused hospital abortion’
The woman subsequently received correspondence from the hospital, a week later, in which the hospital acknowledged the foetus had a ‘complex foetal anomaly’, but that they were not of the opinion that the condition would lead to the death of the foetus within 28 days.
Deputy Coppinger also suggested that the hospital’s board had over-ruled two consultants who had given the initial diagnosis.
However, a spokesman for the Coombe Hospital said that despite some media reports, ‘the Board of Guardians and Directors of the Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital has no role whatsoever in certifying a termination of pregnancy’.
The spokesman also said that the hospital could not comment on individual cases. Dr Krysia Lynch, the chairwoman of the Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services – Ireland, told the Irish Mail on Sunday last night that she fears that when it comes to cases of fatal foetal abnormality, some practitioners will vary in their diagnosis, and she fears that some, do not want to go too close to the 28-day limit. ‘Fatal foetal anomaly accounts for a neo-natal that is not going to survive for more than 28 days outside of the womb and that’s very difficult for medical personnel to identify. I mean some conditions are fairly obvious. If all the baby’s organs are outside of its body that baby is not going to survive outside the womb, but perhaps other conditions are more difficult to put a definitive diagnosis to.
‘I think this has been raised already and I would suspect that what doctors would be doing is they probably don’t want to stray too close to the 28 days and that’s very difficult for women and pregnant people who find themselves in those circumstances.’
Dr Lynch said she feels the case has received such a big reaction because of the assurances given about the intervention of the board at St Vincent’s Hospital.
‘Because of the move of the National Maternity Hospital to St Vincent’s, which was under the domain and ethos of the Sisters of Charity, and the public had been told repeatedly that when this move happens the board will have no influence over maternity care, and obviously abortion care, now in that hospital, and so to see that a board might have had some involvement, I think that’s not sitting well with a lot of people,’ she said.
The former master of the National Hospital, Peter Boylan, told the MoS that it was inevitable that the introduction of a new service, such as termination of pregnancy, would have some teething problems.
‘Any new service is going to be not that easy to introduce. It’s inevitable; everyone knew there would be problems, that’s just in the nature. The way medical advances happen normally is that they happen slowly in already well established specialities… whereas this is a completely new service that has just been initiated on top of very busy hospitals and very busy GPs so everybody knew that there would be hiccups, teething problems, that’s inevitable.’
‘Not sitting well with a lot of people’