Baby boom! Number of births at Limerick hospital increases

ALMOST 4,300 babies were born at University Maternity Hospital Limerick (UMHL) last year, new figures have revealed.

According to data presented by Noreen Spillane, the chief operating officer of the UL Hospitals Group (ULHG), the number of births at the Ennis Road hospital during 2021 stood at 4,294.

In 2019, the number of infants born in the hospital stood at 4,155, while in 2020, this dropped slightly to 4,149.

Ms Spillane hailed the rise as "good news for the region".

Pictured: Limerick's first baby of 2022 is born at just 14 seconds past midnight

UMHL was the only one of ULHG's hospitals to record a rise in outpatient attendance across the last three years.

In 2019, there were 21,656 outpatients, while in 2020 - a year which saw the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic - that number stood at 22,806.

Last year, 25,002 outpatients attended the hospital, which is the only public maternity hospital for the Mid-West.

It comes in spite of the fact that restrictions were in place at the hospital for much of the last two years.

The data on outpatient attendances was presented at a media briefing by UL Hospitals chief clinical director, Prof Brian Lenehan.