Maternity care in the 1950s with Prof. Lindsey Earner-Byrne and Prof Fergal Malone

The history of maternity care in 1950s Ireland has been dominated by the so-called ‘Mother and Child Controversy’, when the Catholic Church and the State clashed over the development of maternity services. While this was undoubtedly a seismic moment in the history of Irish healthcare provision, it has somewhat obscured what was actually happening on the ground in terms of maternal and child welfare and medical services. 

Join Professor Lindsey Earner-Byrne and Professor Fergal Malone as they explore the issues that defined the everyday experience of maternity care in 1950s Dublin and the radical transformation in approaches to maternal and neonatal healthcare that has taken place in Ireland in the years since.

Photography will take place at this event for promotional use by Dublin City Libraries and the One Dublin One Book programme. Photographs may be used as publicity material by Dublin City Libraries and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, to include social media, print media and digital media and/or in newsletters, programmes, on radio and TV, on websites or for public display.