A soon-to-be dad waiting outside a maternity hospital for more than seven hours while his partner is due to give birth said the car park is “surreal” with other men waiting to get "the call".
Gar Toohey posted a picture on Twitter seven hours ago and is still waiting to be with his partner.
The image has gone viral, highlighting the restrictions some maternity hospitals still have in place for expecting couples.
In the image, he is waving up to his partner who took the picture of him waiting outside of the hospital.
He said: “Hours away from having our first child and there I am waving up at herself from outside the hospital on the street, where do you begin..”
Speaking to the Irish Mirror, Mr Toohey said he hopes the picture highlights the situation that couples have to endure.
He said: “The car park here is surreal with all the fathers walking around and waiting on the call.”
He said it is “killing” him knowing his partner is going through contractions and he’s not allowed to be with her.
Mr Toohey added: “Both are healthy which is the main thing but killing me knowing she’s going through those contractions on her own.”
Speaking in the Dáil on Wednesday, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald called on Taoiseach Micheál Martin to ensure women can have their partner with them for all prenatal care, all scans and all appointments.
She said public health restrictions have led to situations where women were getting very difficult and traumatic news on their own.
She said ahead of the Taoiseach’s announcement on the easing of restrictions last week, pregnant women and their partners were led to believe full access for partners would be granted for all prenatal care, all scans and all appointments.
However, she said his announcement “fell short” and asked that he correct that situation.
She added: “What the Taoiseach announced last week around the 20-week scan and attendance where established labour was under way existed already in hospitals so we are asking the Government to take the next step.”
In response, Mr Martin said he is “very supportive of the need for women to be accompanied by their partners at all prenatal scans.”
He said clinical directors have determined “this from the outset of the pandemic, on public health grounds and on no other grounds".
The Taoiseach added: “We have sought in our engagement with the HSE to ensure there would be national uniformity in the application of these guidelines and given that case numbers and the spread of the virus has been very substantially suppressed within hospital environments it seems to me that expectant mothers should be facilitated in this regard.
“I will continue my engagement with the HSE on that front.”
