THE Polish embassy has been unable to locate a woman who walked out of a maternity hospital hours after giving birth to a baby girl because the information she gave to staff was false.

Health officials said they were legally restricted from revealing whether or not recent newspaper advertisements were successful in reaching the woman who went missing last year.

The mother walked out of St Munchin's Regional Maternity Hospital, Limerick, in March, 2009. Her baby girl, later named Patricia, is in foster care.

The Polish community in Limerick is unaware of her situation and gardaí were not in a position to comment.

A spokesman for the Polish embassy said: "We were trying to find her using data given to our office by the HSE but unfortunately name, surname and date of birth of mother is either fake or incorrect so we are unable to track her."

The HSE West said its childcare workers, bound by legislation, had put up a "wall of silence" surrounding the highly unusual case and refused to explain why the media adverts were taken out.

While the circumstances surrounding the disappearance remain mysterious, the HSE has been making repeated efforts to contact the woman.

The advert, which appeared in local media, stated: "The Health Service Executive is seeking to contact a Polish woman who gave birth to a baby on March 17, 2009, at St Munchin's Regional Maternity Hospital, Limerick."

The woman was admitted to the hospital and gave birth, after which she and her daughter were transferred to a recovery room. Staff later found that she had left the hospital but efforts to contact her have proven unsuccessful.