ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses how various factors intertwined to shape maternity services in twentieth-century Ireland. The development of maternity and child health services since the foundation of the state was influenced by the legacy of a British public health culture, deep religious rivalry between Roman Catholic and Protestants. Particularly in the field of medicine, a predominately rural landscape and a quite unique and challenging demographic profile. The particular Irish demographic profile is important to appreciate when considering the development and tenor of Irish maternity services. In 1979, the Journal of the Irish Medical Association published the results of a survey of 120 recently delivered rural mothers. A hard core of the Roman Catholic laity, represented by organizations like the Catholic Truth Society, regarded political independence as a mandate to ensure that the values of massive majority were represented in the new state's legislation. The Rotunda was the Protestant hospital, while the Coombe and Holles Street were predominantly Roman Catholic.
