Rotunda Hospital
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The Rotunda Hospital ( ga, Ospidéal an Rotunda; legally the Hospital for the Relief of Poor Lying-in Women, Dublin) is a
maternity hospital A maternity hospital specializes in caring for women during pregnancy and childbirth. It also provides care for newborn infants, and may act as a centre for clinical training in midwifery and obstetrics. Formerly known as lying-in hospitals, most ...
on
Parnell Street Parnell Street () is a street in Dublin, Ireland, which runs from Capel Street in the west to Gardiner Street and Mountjoy Square in the east. It is at the north end of O'Connell Street, where it forms the south side of Parnell Square. History ...
in
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, Ireland, now managed by
RCSI Hospitals RCSI Hospitals ( ga, Ospidéil RCSI) is one of the hospital groups established by the Health Service Executive in Ireland. History The grouping of hospitals was announced by the Irish Minister for Health, Dr. James Reilly TD in May 2013, as part ...
. The eponymous Rotunda in
Parnell Square Parnell Square () is a Georgian square sited at the northern end of O'Connell Street in the city of Dublin, Ireland. It is in the city's D01 postal district. Formerly named ''Rutland Square'', it was renamed after Charles Stewart Parnell (1 ...
is no longer a part of the hospital complex.


History

The hospital was founded by
Bartholomew Mosse Bartholomew Mosse (1712 – 16 February 1759) was an Irish surgeon and impresario responsible for founding the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin. Early life Bartholemew Mosse was born in Dysart, 2 km east of Portlaoise (then called Maryborough), ...
, a surgeon and
midwife A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialization known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their lifespan; co ...
who was appalled at the conditions that pregnant women had to endure, in George's Lane in March 1745. It was granted by Royal Charter on 2 December 1756 by King George II.
Lying-in Lying-in is the term given to the European forms of postpartum confinement, the traditional practice involving long bed rest before and after giving birth. The term and the practice it describes are old-fashioned or archaic, but it used to be c ...
is an archaic term for childbirth (referring to the month-long
bed rest Bed rest, also referred to as the rest-cure, is a medical treatment in which a person lies in bed for most of the time to try to cure an illness. Bed rest refers to voluntarily lying in bed as a treatment and not being confined to bed because of ...
prescribed for postpartum confinement). The venture was very successful and Mosse raised money through concerts, exhibitions and even a lottery to establish larger premises. The hospital moved to new premises, designed by
Richard Cassels Richard Cassels (1690 – 1751), also known as Richard Castle, was an architect who ranks with Edward Lovett Pearce as one of the greatest architects working in Ireland in the 18th century. Cassels was born in 1690 in Kassel, Germany. Althou ...
, where it became known as "The New Lying-In Hospital" in December 1757. The
Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...
Chapel was opened in 1762. Open to the public, it provided a healthy income to the hospital annually, Dr. Mosse successfully encouraging wealthy Protestant Dubliners to attend service there. Records indicate that around 1781, "when the hospital was imperfectly ventilated, every sixth child died within nine days after birth, of convulsive disease; and that after means of thorough ventilation had been adopted, the mortality of infants, within the same, in five succeeding years, was reduced to one in twenty". Full text at Internet Archive (archive.org). This issue was not limited to the Lying-In-Hospital. In that era, ventilation improvement was a general issue in patient care, Full text at Internet Archive (archive.org) along with other issues of sanitation and hygiene, and the conditions in which surgeons such as
Robert Liston Robert Liston (28 October 1794 – 7 December 1847) was a British surgeon. Liston was noted for his speed and skill in an era prior to anaesthetics, when speed made a difference in terms of pain and survival. He was the first Professor of Cli ...
in Britain and elsewhere, had to operate. p.43
Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during t ...
famously worked on the design of safe and healthy hospitals. The first
caesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section or caesarean delivery, is the surgical procedure by which one or more babies are delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen, often performed because vaginal delivery would put the baby or mo ...
in Ireland was undertaken at the hospital in 1889.


Rotunda

The eponymous Rotunda is a rotunda designed by James Ensor, which was completed just in time for a reception hosted by the James FitzGerald, Marquess of Kildare in October 1767. The extensive Rotunda Rooms, designed by Richard Johnston and built adjacent to the rotunda, were completed in 1791. By the early 19th century the hospital had become known as the Rotunda Hospital, after its most prominent architectural feature. The Rotunda became a theatre, where the
Irish Volunteers The Irish Volunteers ( ga, Óglaigh na hÉireann), sometimes called the Irish Volunteer Force or Irish Volunteer Army, was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists and republicans. It was ostensibly formed in respons ...
' first public meeting was held in 1913, and later the Ambassador Cinema. The Rotunda Rooms now house the
Gate Theatre The Gate Theatre is a Theater (structure), theatre on Cavendish Row in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1928. History Beginnings The Gate Theatre was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir with Daisy Bannard Cogley and Ge ...
.


Services

The Rotunda Hospital, as both a maternity hospital and also as a training centre (affiliated with
Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...
) is notable for having provided continuous service to mothers and babies since inception, making it the oldest continuously operating maternity hospital in the world. It is estimated that over 300,000 babies have been born there.


Criticism

In 2000 the Rotunda was one of two Dublin maternity hospitals found to have illegally retained organ tissue from babies without parental consent. The tissue removed in postmortem examinations was retained for some years. The Rotunda hospital admitted that that permission should have been sought for this process to be allowed to take place. A medical negligence award was approved in 2020 for a young boy who developed
cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensa ...
as a result of complications with his delivery at the hospital in 2004.


See also

*
General Lying-In Hospital The General Lying-In Hospital was one of the first maternity hospitals in Great Britain. It opened in 1767 on Westminster Bridge Road, London and closed in 1971. Lying-in is an archaic term for childbirth (referring to the month-long bed rest pr ...
, London


References


Sources

*


External links

* {{Authority control 1745 establishments in Ireland Teaching hospitals in Dublin (city) Teaching hospitals of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Teaching hospitals of the University of Dublin, Trinity College Rotundas in Europe Hospitals established in the 1740s Parnell Square Health Service Executive hospitals Richard Cassels buildings