Exactly two years ago today, we aired a special Hard Shoulder report on the lockdown babies.

The report saw Newstalk reporter Laura Donnelly visiting the parents of babies being born at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She spoke to families who had just had babies and even one mother on her due date – just as maternity restrictions were tightening up and none of us knew how long our lockdown would go on for.

At the time, all the families had concerns about the affect isolation might have on their young children – as well as fears over whether they would be able to access the supports they needed.

On the show this evening, Laura returned to those same families to see how life has changed over the past two years and, most importantly, to find out how our lockdown babies are getting on.

Lockdown Baby Romy – then and now.

Natalie Donohue had baby Romy in February 2020 just before the first lockdown.

“One of the things I had a fear of and actually it has only really dissipated recently, was the fact that Romy had one visit form the public health nurse when she came from the hospital and then she had no more visits,” she said.

“Her next visit was her 24 month one which just happened a couple of months ago. They were happy with her development and the stage she's at in life but for those two years I was worried.

“I thought, God, no one’s had really a look at her to see if she's at the stage she's at or if she's meeting the right milestones. Sometimes you just want, as a mum, some reassurance from a professional or an expert.

"Or, if you do have some concerns you don’t necessarily want to go to the doctor about, that's what the public health nurse is there for and they do put your mind at ease.

“A lot of mums didn’t have that over the last few years.”

Lockdown Baby Sadhbh – now and then.

Deirdre Keely gave birth to Sadhbh in April 2020. She said masks were no issue – but COVID tests are another story.

“She didn’t seem to make strange with masks because she was kind of used to it and didn’t really know any different," she said. "But you felt so bad every time you had to take her for a COVID test."

“You couldn’t explain to her what was coming but after a while, she used to nearly see the thing coming and she would know what it was and start screaming.

“That was awful and she was only in creche, I think, a couple of months and had to have six or seven tests between close contacts and symptoms. You felt so bad doing it every time – but it had to be done.”

Lockdown Baby Oisin – then and now.

All the families speak about enjoying the extra time they had together during lockdown.

Ciaran Curley and Diana Meliciano said they loved being able to watch baby Oisin grow up and will never go back to their old working habits.

“For us personally, there were a lot of positives in there,” said Ciaran.

“We weren’t parents before when you had to commute and everything, so fair play to those who did it and still do it,” said Diana “But I don’t know how either of us could possibly commute an hour in and an hour out every day and still be able to have family time during the week – that just wouldn’t be possible.

“So that's a huge silver lining from the last few years. That change in working routines.”

“It would be a huge consideration for myself moving forward for having a child in the future,” said Ciaran. “Workwise I would put a lot more value on being able to work from home or at least a hybrid model."

“Being able to build up that relationship with the child and be around an see the personality grow. You can’t replace that or get it back.”

You can listen back to Laura's full report here: