zThe government is proving to be insensitive to the needs of parents, said Malta Labour Party MPs Helena Dalli and Michael Farrugia in a joint statement.

Notwithstanding the huge costs incurred in building the Mater Dei hospital, said the two MPs, the post-natal department will not have a separate room for mothers whose newborn had died. This meant that these people, who would be undergoing a severe trauma, would be recovering in the same ward as new mothers who have just given birth successfully.

This did not happen at St Luke’s Hospital, because there were two separate wards, said the MPs, adding that this showed how space was badly utilised at the new hospital, where there was not even a child care centre.

The MPs referred also to the pre-natal lessons offered to prospective mothers. These were being given at Mater Dei, while they were informed that they would give birth at St Luke’s. This, said the MPs, confirmed how the opening of the new hospital on 29 June was a sham.