I had really hoped to see the Domino scheme rolled out to the rest of the country. International best practice seems to suggest that midwife-led maternity services are not only the most cost-efficient but also beneficial to the birth experiences of mothers and babies in low-risk pregnancies. Why can’t the HSE maintain those services that actually work and concentrate on cutting and repairing the ones that are broken?

Typical HSE. Trying to weasel out of providing a service that actually works. Midwife lead schemes are better than most consultant lead pregnancies. Consultants send women for a battery of unnecessary tests during pregnancy causing again unnecessary stress and worry.
With that being said, it might explain the quiet dissolution of the service. You have to wonder are the consultants pushing behind this to increase the lining of their own pockets? In turn, some backhanders to the officials behind it.
We shouldn’t have to be making these cuts if the government made cuts on the over inflated administrative arm if the HSE.

Midwife led care is proven time and again to be best practice for normal pregnancies and HAS to be the most cost effective. It’s the norm in most other European countries. It makes no sense that we would be curtailing these services and not expanding on them. Typical of our govt though

It’s madness. Surely domino schemes are one of the most cost effective? No inflated consultant fees, generally low intervention births and a very, if any, short time spent in hospital? Services like this need to be improved and available nationwide not stopped

I always knew Dominos did home deliveries but this is an added service I never knew about !

This is an absolute disgrace. The fiscal reasons alone are huge, but in terms of maternal and infant health the statistics speak for themselves. Midwives are hands down better carers. Not only could the HSE be saving money, but they could be providing top notch SAFE care for women and babies who need it. *sigh*

@John Paul Kennedy – it’s quite clear from your comments that you don’t know the first thing about the Domino/Community Midwives Scheme. It has nothing to do with unregulated private midwifery, unregistered midwives, or uninsured or unskilled midwives. In fact, the Communitiy Midwives Scheme is about the complete opposite of all those things.

The Nurses and Midwives Bill 2010 calls for midwives to be insured against claims. It also puts an end to unreglated private midwifery. It calls for all midwives to be registered. It calls for midwives to maintain their skills through ongoing training. Midwives don’t like these things.

The Nurses and Midwives Bill 2010 calls for midwives to have clinical indemnity (insurance). It puts an end to unregulated private midwifery. It It calls for midwives to be registered. It calls for them to keep their skills up to date through ongoing education. Midwives don’t like this.