A Trinity research team has called for the establishment of reporting guidelines on concealed pregnancies in Ireland after their analysis found that the “insensitive” reporting had a detrimental effect on mothers and babies.
The study has found that concealed pregnancies are “far from being a phenomenon of the past”. Speaking in a press statement, the leader of the team of researchers, Sylvia Murphy Tighe, said that “women in Ireland continue to conceal their pregnancies for a variety of complex and poorly understood reasons”.
The research, which took place in the School of Nursing and Midwifery and was funded by the Health Research Board, analysed both national and international coverage. The recent coverage on concealed pregnancies, particularly reports of the recent revelations involving mother-and-baby homes in Ireland, “may serve to silence women and prevent them coming forward to access assistance and support”, the study found.
The researchers described the reporting of recent revelations about mother and baby homes as “sensationalist and emotive in tone”. Their analysis found that reports characterised women negatively and that this type of coverage was damaging to women and children who have gone or are going through concealed pregnancies. Tighe, who is a Health Research Board fellow and lecturer in the University of Limerick, denounced the nature of this style of reporting, saying that it “[does] not present a positive portrayal of women who have been through a traumatic, isolating and lonely experience and may contribute to notions of deviancy or victimhood”.
Associate Professor from the School of Nursing and Midwifery and member of the research team, Dr Joan Lalor, highlighted the need for “editorial oversight and press guidelines” when it comes to reporting on such a sensitive subject. He referenced the success story of the collaboration between the Samaritans and journalists in establishing guidelines for reporting on suicide: “These guidelines have led to more factual and sensitive reporting and demonstrate how effective interagency work can lead to greater understanding of such a sensitive issue.” These reporting guidelines included avoiding sensationalisation, leaving out unnecessary details, advice on appropriate phrasing and supplying helpline numbers at the end of articles.
Statements were taken from 60 women, who described their experiences with concealed pregnancies. Thirty of the women were questioned as part of the “Keeping it Secret Study – Your Story of Concealed Pregnancy”, which closely examines many aspects of concealed pregnancies in Ireland. The full report is due to be released in summer 2017.
Urging the media to consider the effects of their reporting, Tighe stated: “We must as a nation recognise this and respond more supportively than in the past, particularly in light of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home revelations and the ongoing Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes.”
The research comes in the wake of the discovery by the Mother and Baby Home Commission of a mass grave of foetal remains and children’s bodies on the site of the former Tuam Mother and Baby Home.
