By Victoria O'Hara John Leckey yesterday highlighted the importance of refresher courses for midwives across Northern Ireland following the death of Paul Samuel O'Neill on November 9, 2005.

By Louise Hogan Doctors from two of the country's top hospitals saved Aideen's life after they performed an EXIT procedure, a special form of C- section carried out when the foetus has an obstruction blocking the airways.

A PREGNANT woman was rushed to hospital by fire brigade after her ambulance crashed in rush-hour traffic yesterday. The Health Board ambulance carrying her to a maternity hospital collided with a car on Dublin's jammed O'Connell Bridge.

ONE of Ireland's largest maternity hospitals is sending new mothers home just SIX hours after giving birth in a desperate bid to reduce overcrowding. The Rotunda Hospital in central Dublin is introducing the express delivery scheme to increase patient turnover.

BECOMING a parent should be one of the most joyous occasions in anyone's life. But the experience of motherhood is increasingly becoming less joyful and more traumatic. Maternity hospitals seem more like factory carousels these days because of the huge pressure on hospital beds.