Two widowers whose wives both died after giving birth at Sligo General Hospital have said that they are satisfied that safety measures are being put in place to improve maternity services for the future.

Father of one, Michael Kivlehan from Leitrim, and father of four, Sean Rowlette from Sligo, made the comments after attending a two-hour meeting with Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, on Monday.

Mr Kivlehan's wife, Dhara (29), died of multi-organ failure as a result of HELLP syndrome at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast in September 2010. She had been transferred there from Sligo General after becoming seriously ill following the birth of her first child.

HELLP syndrome is a life-threatening pregnancy complication usually associated with pre-eclampsia.

Mr Rowlette's wife, Sally (35), died in Sligo General Hospital in February 2013. A postmortem revealed that her death was due to haemorrhagic infarction with cerebral oedema brought on by HELLP syndrome.

It was found that a lack of consultant care and delays in treatment played a role in both women's deaths.

Speaking after the meeting, Minister Varadkar said that have been a ‘number of serious cases of medical misadventure in recent years', which have given him ‘cause for concern'.

He added that a new maternity strategy is being developed this year, which will ‘map' maternity services for the coming years.

Speaking later on Today FM's The Last Word, the men's solicitor, Roger Murray, said that the HSE had issued apologies to both men and Minister Varadkar had repeated these apologies at the meeting.

He added that both men felt that they were genuinely listened to at the meeting and that ‘there is a genuine desire for change'.