To ask the Minister of Health to detail (i) the current restrictions on birthing partners attending ante-natal appointments and scans with a pregnant woman; and (ii) when these restrictions will be relaxed.

The Department’s regional visiting guidance to hospital settings including Maternity, a Pathway to Enhanced Visiting, represents the expected visiting arrangements which should be facilitated providing that decisions are guided by local Infection Prevention and Control risk assessments.

Current Restrictions:

In respect of Maternity Outpatient Services, a chosen birth partner will be facilitated to accompany the pregnant woman to any pregnancy related appointments and ultrasound scans with particular effort made to keep the environment COVID secure.

The guidance states that in certain, prescribed circumstances, local decisions may be made to reinstate some restrictions for limited periods to protect patients, families and staff. For this reason, in the event of evidence of rapidly increasing community transmission or outbreaks in a particular geographical area or facility, some additional local visiting restrictions may apply. For details of maternity restrictions applicable in each Health and Social Care Trust (HSCT) area at any given time, please refer to the relevant HSCT website.

It is important to note that any visiting restrictions additional to those outlined in a Pathway to Enhanced Visiting currently being implemented are kept under regular review by the appropriate HSCT. This will allow for a reversion to the permissions outlined in the regional visiting guidance document at the earliest opportunity.

Future Plans:

The Pathway is subject to scheduled review every four weeks, with the next review due to be completed in the week commencing 8 November 2021.