'Can the men who are not pregnant please stand up?' - pregnant women in Limerick left to stand

A MASS exodus of men leaving the ultrasound waiting room or the antenatal clinic area of University Maternity Hospital Limerick (UMHL) can only mean one thing - they’ve been asked to give up their seats for the pregnant women who are standing.

There are 23 seats in the ultrasound waiting room and up to 70 in the antenatal clinic - this is where the pregnant women come for booking-in appointments in the first trimester around 12-14 weeks, routine appointments and for those who are high risk - regular and sometimes weekly appointments.

Claire who lives in Limerick with her husband and three children told the Limerick Leader that men being asked to stand and give up their seats is an all too regular occurrence at the maternity hospital on the Ennis Road.

This is her fourth pregnancy and due to previous difficulties and losses, she is high risk, so is in the hospital more frequently than others.

She told the Limerick Leader: “The clinics are really busy, especially on specific days where one obstetrician has their clinic and I’ve heard of women having an 8am appointment and still being there at 12 noon. It’s not the fault of the staff, they are definitely doing their best, but it makes for long waits, sometimes on your feet if there are no seats.

“I’ve been in and out of the hospital since the fifth week of my pregnancy for regular monitoring and I think almost every week, a member of staff, whether that’s a receptionist, sonographer or midwife, has to come into one of the waiting rooms and ask all of the men who are not pregnant to please vacate the seats so that the pregnant women might sit down.”

She added: “I don’t know if it’s that chivalry is dead or if they just don’t realise that pregnant women are standing, but there are signs on the bathrooms in those areas that they are for women only and men have to go up one floor - so maybe it goes back further than that, I don’t know.”

For some women, these appointments are not routine and having someone with you to lean on can be vital and Claire said she understands and appreciates that.

“I had a Covid baby - I was here in the hospital for every appointment alone due to the restrictions, and while I know it’s important to have someone with you for support, it’s not vital that they take up a seat, which a heavily pregnant, sometimes exhausted, woman could be sitting on.”

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There were 3,964 babies born at University Maternity Hospital Limerick in 2023 - when you break that down, that’s a lot of women who are regularly visiting the hospital for appointments.

In response to a query from the Limerick Leader about whether or not there is a policy in place about people who are not pregnant giving up their seats for those who are pregnant, a spokesperson for UL Hospitals Group said: “The safety and comfort of women who attend University Maternity Hospital Limerick are the main priority for our staff. We endeavour to schedule clinics to minimise numbers in our waiting areas by arranging appointments for one service-user with one nominated partner at specific times.

“During busy times when waiting areas for clinics and the ultrasound department may be full, we ask service users to wait at the hospital's reception area.”