Sir, – I am writing this one-handed as I hold my two-month-old, who would not exist if it wasn’t for the Rotunda Private. I am enraged at the vilification of the outstanding consultants in the Rotunda. As a woman who has lived with endometriosis for more than 20 years, I had no choice but to seek private care after years of misdiagnosis, inadequate treatment and long waiting lists in the public system.Over the past eight years, my consultant at the Rotunda Private has guided me through the many challenges of planning for and trying to conceive while living with this disease.As a private patient with complex medical needs, I was able to get immediate support following a positive pregnancy test, which led to the early detection of an ectopic pregnancy. Had I been a public patient, I would have had to wait 12 weeks for my first appointment, risking a rupture in the meantime which could have endangered my life and future chances at conceiving. Until the public system can consistently provide the level of care that all women deserve, continuity of care for those who choose to go private should not be disrupted. Women, particularly those with complex conditions, should not have the care they rely upon with their trusted consultants pulled from them at such vulnerable times in their lives. I question whether women’s needs were considered at all when these new contracts were designed. I owe my life and my son’s to the Rotunda. – Yours, etc,AOIFE MULLEN,Drogheda,Co Louth