Today is international pregnancy and infant loss remembrance day and I want to highlight it in the Dáil on behalf of all of the people we know who have experienced the pain and loss of losing a baby at an early, middle or late stage of pregnancy, during birth or in the immediate neonatal period. We all know that the shock and pain of losing any family member is one of the worst of life's experiences but there really are few traumas or sadnesses like the loss of an infant. What compounds it is that it happens so often in private and in secret and without the usual recognition we get for losing family members. I want to highlight it today.

It was very heartening to see so much being made available for the national maternity strategy in the budget and I thank the Tánaiste for this. Will he highlight within it the importance of sensitivity in communication by doctors? As a medical professional, he knows how important this is. I have spoken to many women who have gone through this without the sensitivity of medical professionals or public health nurses and without follow-up mental health supports.

I thank Deputy Carroll MacNeill for raising the issue of pregnancy loss and infant loss. I know it is a deeply traumatic experience for so many people whom we know. When I was the Minister for Health, I had the privilege of producing Ireland's first national maternity strategy, which is being implemented and there is funding for it in the budget, which I am delighted to see. The Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, managed to secure more funding for it than I did and I welcome the fact this is happening. Part of the strategy involves improving the responsiveness of our health service in these situations and training doctors, midwives and health professionals on how better to break bad news and deal with bad news such as this. It involves the appointment of bereavement midwives who specialise in this. A number of them exist already and we need more. As well as this there are small things that matter, such as the right room. It can be very difficult for somebody to find out the baby she is carrying has died or will not survive in a ward where she can hear the sound of newborn babies. All of these little things can really make a difference. We have a pathway to really improve how we treat people in these scenarios.