One new mother has suggested ongoing maternity restrictions are a form of 'coercive control.'
It comes as restrictions are still being reported around partners attending antenatal appointments and certain scans.
There are also restrictions on older children attending after a parent has given birth.
Brenda, who had her first child in January this year, told Lunchtime Live it is unfair.
"It's absolutely, in my opinion, a form of coercive control," she said.
"Having pregnant women in appointment rooms, attending on their own with no support person in place with them.
"No one to ask the care provider questions, no one to say, 'We need to just take a minute here and look at the absolute risks, perhaps, that you're talking about'.
"I was lucky in that I was considered a low-risk pregnancy, so I was able to attend my appointments - for the majority of my pregnancy - at a community clinic in Cork".
'We are grown adults'
Brenda said this changed later on in her pregnancy.
"The appointments ramp up, the clinics were closed because it was Christmas," she said.
"I was left with no option but to attend CUMH.
"I do believe that there is an aspect of coercive control here at the clinics with having no one there with you".
She said she emailed the hospital asking if her husband could attend with her.
"He's not a schoolchild, I'm not a schoolchild - we are grown adults, we're pregnant with our first child.
"I feel that as the father of my baby, he should be entitled to be there at the appointment.
"He should be present to hear what's being discussed about my pregnancy, and his child ultimately".
'Loss of midwives'
Brenda said she was told there were concerns that her husband could bring COVID-19 into the hospital.
"I was cold-called a couple of weeks later by a midwife, who said to me that if she lost a midwife... if my husband brought COVID into the clinic, that she wouldn't be happy," she said.
"The HSE aren't losing midwives in the system because partners and support people are bringing COVID into their clinics.
"They're losing midwives because midwives are ultimately seeking employment opportunities elsewhere.
"Blaming partners for bringing COVID into clinics for the loss of midwives is completely farcical," she added.
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