Compared to other Dublin maternity units, the Coombe Women's Hospital has had a different practice on the retention of babies organs following post-mortem examination.
In a statement yesterday, it said it "would like to assure parents of deceased babies that it has not been the practice of the hospital to retain organs following post-mortem. A post-mortem does involve an examination of the baby and of the organs. To investigate the cause of death, we have taken biopsies from organs for histopathological study. However, whole organs have never been retained."
This revelation places a question mark over past practices at the National Maternity Hospital in Holles Street, which has admitted keeping complete organs for up to 10 years. It has also emerged that whole organs have been retained in the majority of autopsies performed there.
The Rotunda Hospital in Dublin has confirmed that it also retained entire organs when performing post-mortems on stillborn children or on infants who died shortly after birth. The hospital was unable to clarify the extent of this.
The dean of the faculty of pathologists of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland has told The Irish Times he was satisfied that new post-mortem consent guidelines would cover all issues surrounding organ retention in children. Dr Michael Madden has also welcomed the proposed public inquiry into autopsy practices.
"The faculty welcomes the inquiry, and we will be advocating that it covers all hospitals in the State when we meet the Minister for Health later this week," he said.
Patients and parent groups have reacted with shock to the Holles Street announcement. Mr Tony O'Sullivan, a spokesman for Patient Focus, said: "These practices are not acceptable. It is inexcusable for the hospital to have done these things without parents' permission."
He said his group would be pushing for a full inquiry covering every hospital in the State and examining coroners' practice as well as post-mortem procedures.
Ms Fionnuala O'Reilly, spokeswoman for the Parents for Justice group, said: "It is reassuring to hear that the Coombe Hospital was able to return organs for burial in the normal way." However, she was "disturbed in the extreme at the extensiveness of the Holles Street practice."
She said Parents for Justice was concerned that parental consent was still not afforded a proper degree of seriousness.
The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, said a non-statutory inquiry would be preferable but he would not make a final decision until he again met the parents' group.