Visitor restrictions which were introduced to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the maternity ward at University Hospital Galway will be eased from next week.
Following recent improvements in community transmission, partners will be allowed to visit St. Catherine’s Ward and St. Angela’s Ward from 7pm to 8pm from Monday 26 April.
Visiting time by fathers in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit will increase to 30 minutes, and partners may attend anomaly scans.
Currently, birthing partners of women in labour can attend births, and partners can also attend a caesarean section done under regional anaesthesia, subject to screening questions and wearing full PPE.
If a partner has COVID-19 symptoms, is awaiting a COVID-19 test or test result or has had a positive test within the last 14 days, they must not go to the hospital.
In this event an alternative birth partner may attend, and all partners must wear a face mask at all times, maintain social distancing and use the available hand gel to clean their hands regularly.
While the community transmission rates in Galway have improved, the risk associated with COVID-19 remains and UHG says that visiting arrangements will be kept under review while there is still a risk of introduction of infection to the Maternity Department.
The details of the visiting restrictions in the Maternity Departments are updated regularly on the HSE website.
