This comes just days after a 23-year-old Congolese woman was ordered by the High Court to have a blood transfusion against her will following the birth of her first child at the Coombe Women's Hospital on Thursday.

According to the Jehovah's Witness Hospital Liaison Committee, the woman, known only as Ms K, was denied access to both her husband and her pastor, Peter Barnes, following the birth.

The court ordered the blood transfusion because it was understood the child would be alone in the world if his mother died.

"This woman's rights have been trampled on, " Adrian Lawlor of the hospital liaison committee told the Sunday Tribune. "She requested that her husband and pastor be allowed in and this was refused. Even more outrageous was that she was not given legal representation.

She has been denied her most basic fundamental rights and this has serious implications for everyone, regardless of the blood issue."

Spokespeople for both Holles Street and the Coombe said yesterday that they would not be making any comment on individual cases.