A new exhibition tracing two centuries of the Coombe Hospital opened at the Little Museum of Dublin on 22 October, marking 200 years since the maternity hospital was founded in the Liberties in 1826.
'Born in Dublin: 200 Years of the Coombe Hospital' charts the generations of women, newborns, families and healthcare workers who built one of Ireland's oldest maternity institutions, according to RTE.ie. For a hospital that began with 15 beds and a mission to serve the poor of Dublin's south side, the story it tells is as much about the city as about medicine.
A hospital born from tragedy
The Coombe owes its existence to a winter storm. Prof Michael O'Connell, Master of the hospital, explained that it was set up in the aftermath of a tragedy when two women lost their lives trying to make their way to the Rotunda for care during a storm in 1825.
A woman called Margaret Boyle then set about founding a maternity hospital for Dubliners in the Liberties, establishing what was then known as the 'coombe lying in wait' hospital. Her vision was simple and radical for its time: pregnant women, particularly those facing poverty, deserved a safe place to give birth on the south side of the city.
That is a principle worth pausing on. Care organised around need rather than the ability to pay is the foundation of any decent society, and it was being practised in the Liberties two centuries before we had the language for it. The exhibition, as Dublin Live reports, forms part of the hospital's wider bicentenary celebrations.
From 15 beds to 6,500 births a year
The original hospital offered just 15 beds. In 1967 it moved to its current site at Cork Street and Dolphin's Barn, with more than 200 beds and cots, and today it delivers approximately 6,500 babies annually.
Records from the early decades were lost in a fire in the 1930s, so the exact figure is uncertain, but Prof O'Connell estimates that more than 740,000 babies had been born there up to 30 September this year.
The hospital received a royal charter in 1867 and played its part in the development of formal training for nurses and midwives, as healthcare moved towards the professional, specialist model we now take for granted.
How maternity care changed over two centuries
The exhibition is filled with objects charting that development, from a 19th century hypodermic needle to the Pinard stethoscope, the small funnel used to listen to the foetal heart.
Ann MacIntyre, Director of Nursing and Midwifery at the Coombe, said the change in technology has been dramatic.
Now the hospital uses CTG monitors, ultrasound, sonography and computer systems such as MNCMS to identify high-risk pregnancies. We are diagnosing much earlier, she said, resulting in good care, safe care and good outcomes for women, babies and families.
Among the pioneers celebrated is Francis Rynd, a consulting surgeon at the Coombe who is credited with performing the first recorded subcutaneous injection at Dublin's Meath Hospital in 1844. The exhibition also marks Dr John Drumm and Dr Dermot FitzGerald, whose research published in 1977 pioneered the use of Doppler ultrasound to assess blood flow in the umbilical cord, work that helped clinicians assess foetal wellbeing and identify risks in pregnancy.
The people behind the institution
For midwife Denise Lambert, the connection runs deep.
I was born here, my family was born here, my husband was born here, and I have worked here as a staff midwife for 20 years, she said. She described feeling safe, cherished and looked after by everyone during her own experiences as a patient.
That continuity, generations of the same families passing through the same doors, is what gives a hospital its place in a city's memory. The Irish Independent captured that same sentiment in its own coverage of the anniversary, with mothers recalling the people in the room when they gave birth.
Two centuries of Irish history
The Coombe has witnessed the full sweep of Irish history: the Act of Union, the Great Famine, the Spanish Flu, two world wars, the War of Independence and Covid-19. Through all of it, the hospital kept delivering babies.
Prof O'Connell said the exhibition celebrates the major developments that have shaped the hospital's services as its role changed over two centuries. Ann MacIntyre added that the stories keep one eye on the past and one on the future, showing how education and clinical advances will continue to shape maternity care.
Working in the team is wonderful, Prof O'Connell said, noting that the neonatal unit now cares for babies born at 23 weeks gestation weighing as little as 400 grams, less than half a bag of sugar.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the Born in Dublin exhibition being held?
At the Little Museum of Dublin in St Stephen's Green. According to the Irish Independent, it opened on 22 October.
When was the Coombe Hospital founded?
In 1826, in the Liberties area of Dublin, by Margaret Boyle, after two women died in a storm in 1825 while trying to reach the Rotunda hospital.
How many babies are born at the Coombe each year?
The hospital delivers approximately 6,500 babies annually, and estimates more than 740,000 babies have been born there over its 200-year history.