Galway Bay fm newsroom – The number of births at the maternity units at UHG and Portiuncula Hospital dropped slightly last year.
New figures reveal that 1,880 babies were born at Portiuncula last year – a decrease of almost 4% on the previous year.
2,974 babies were born at UHG last year, a drop of 2.5 percent on the figure for 2014.
According to the Irish Independent, the drop in births at the country’s smaller maternity units is leading to concern over the future of the facilities.
Portlaoise Hospital suffered the biggest decrease in births last year, with a drop of over 12% in the number of babies born at its maternity unit.
Dr Peter Boylan, former master of the National Maternity Hospital, says smaller units may end up having to link their services to larger maternity hospitals to safeguard their futures.
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