RTÉ HAS RESPONDED to criticism of its The Rotunda series, which was filmed in the maternity hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic, stating that crew numbers were kept to a minimum and much of the filming was done off site.

The documentary series, now in its third season, follows the stories of women and couples who attend the hospital for the birth of their babies. The latest season was filmed from November 2020 to September 2021.

Ahead of the first episode, which aired last night, there was criticism of the hospital’s decision to allow a television crew to film a televisions show there while partners of pregnant women had their access restricted due to public health advice. 

Really makes you realise that if they could let producers in to record safely then they definitely could’ve let partners in🤔 shambolic and cowardly https://t.co/rEBSwTkvLt

— Carl Maguire (@carl_maguire) September 8, 2021

😬 Partner support throughout labour, birth, scans, appointments not essential but a tv crew going round to get up close and personal with lots of different people, totally fine. If I roll my eyes any harder they will fall out. https://t.co/N1P0iiQ49Z

— Alison Hough (@AlisonNiEochaid) September 8, 2021

After the first episode aired last night, Linda Kelly, who is part of the #BetterMaternityCare campaign, criticised the show for failing to adequately portray how Covid restrictions impacted on people who gave birth in a hospital and their partners during the pandemic.

The absolute lack of explanation / detail on the restrictions utterly fails to reflect what giving birth during the pandemic is like. Not sure #TheRotunda is actually giving a fair reflection at all or doing the public service it believes it is. #BetterMaternityCare

— Linda Kelly (@lindabtweeting) September 8, 2021

I regret watching #TheRotunda so much. The absolute ignorance of how the ongoing partner restrictions affect every aspect of your pregnancy is actually quite unbelievable. Added as a footnote and nothing more. Such an insult and v upsetting. #BetterMaternityCare

— Linda Kelly (@lindabtweeting) September 8, 2021

RTÉ’s Liveline hosted a discussion about the series this afternoon, with a number of callers getting in touch to share their own experiences of giving birth during the pandemic.

Kelly told Joe Duffy she was “shocked” that the restrictions were not addressed in the show.

“If they had actually documented what it was like to be pregnant and give birth during Covid then maybe you could understand it but they didn’t do that at all,” she said.

Emma, who said she was also involved in the campaign to ease restrictions at maternity hospitals, gave birth to her first child in April last year, which said said was a “horrific” experience.

Two weeks ago she and her partner lost their second baby and she said they were still separated while dealing with that tragedy. 

“I had to walk through the antenatal clinic in the Coombe by myself,” she said. “I had to sit and wait by myself for upwards of 40 minutes, it was awful, knowing that our baby had gone.  My partner [was] outside desperately wanting to hold my hand and to comfort me, especially after everything we’ve been through my first daughter.”

She said it is important that the experiences of pregnancy during the pandemic are heard, but said the series should be an “accurate reflection of what’s happening” and she does not believe it is.

In a statement, RTÉ said its approach to the documentary series has always been “to authentically tell the stories of mothers and their partners with care and compassion, and to celebrate the work of hospital staff in sometimes very difficult circumstances while at the same time bringing stories of love and compassion to the airwaves”.

“This holds true now more than ever. We believe in our public service remit and our objective in making this series is to offer an important insight into Irish life in 2021,” the broadcaster said.

RTÉ said for filming this season it reduced footfall in the hospital to “the bare minimum” with a lot of filming taking place off-site.

The majority of filming in the hospital was recorded by remote cameras controlled from outside the building. Additional research and filming was produced by a single person or on occasion by a compact two-person crew. Strict Covid-19 infection prevention and control protocols were followed at all times by the production.

A spokesperson for the Rotunda also defended the decision to allow filming to go ahead during the pandemic.

“Management at the Rotunda Hospital decided to proceed with filming The Rotunda TV series as it is an important platform that allows patients and their families to share their pregnancy and birth stories with dignity and respect, both joyous and heartbreaking,” they said.

“We believe that it is important to hear these stories and understand how maternity services continued to operate safely for all patients despite the many challenges posed by Covid-19 pandemic and also by a cyber- attack.”

The hospital said minimal numbers of crew were on site and filming in delivery suites mainly took place through pre-installed fixed cameras that were operated remotely.

“For a limited amount of filming, one crew member, or on occasion a compact two-person crew, was present onsite,” they said.

“Family and staff interviews were filmed off site in a production studio. During the course of filming strict infection prevention and control protocols were adhered to at all times.”