Shauna Bowers

1 week ago | irishtimes.com | Shauna Bowers

In 2021, Kerrie Kennedy was at home in her house in Tallaght, Dublin, with her now husband, experiencing a miscarriage. It was painful both physically and mentally, she said, but she was relieved to have the support of her family at the time. The miscarriage, however, was only the beginning of her health challenges. She had been in hospital beforehand with excruciating stomach pain. She underwent tests, and doctors ruled out a link between the pain and pregnancy.

1 week ago | irishtimes.com | Shauna Bowers

Niamh Doherty couldn’t understand why she kept crying. At the age of 17, she was repeatedly experiencing bouts of low mood. It took months for her to realise the persistent sadness had arisen soon after she began the contraceptive pill. “My mom wanted me to go on contraception because I had my first boyfriend. I immediately saw weight changes. I went from being quite flat to having huge boobs. And I had terrible mental health.

1 week ago | irishtimes.com | Shauna Bowers

More children were added to the spinal surgery waiting list in the first three months of the year than were operated on, according to the body that oversees paediatric healthcare in the State. On Friday, Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) published an activity update on spinal surgery for children with scoliosis and spina bifida, showing 123 surgeries were carried out in the first three months of this year.

2 weeks ago | irishtimes.com | Shauna Bowers

More departures from Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) are expected in coming weeks after a report found the implantation of unlicensed medical devices in children requiring spinal surgery was “wrong”. The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) on Tuesday published a lengthy and damning report around the governance and oversight of CHI, the body which oversees paediatric healthcare in the State.

2 weeks ago | irishtimes.com | Shauna Bowers

“Young people with scoliosis are suffering severe physical and psychological effects as a result of the delays they experience.”Those were the words of Ombudsman for Children Niall Muldoon following the publication of a 2017 report which criticised “unacceptable” delays in providing spinal surgery to these children. At the time, 119 children with scoliosis were on the waiting list for more than six months, with 46 on the list for more than a year.