Tusla has provided protection for 158 unborn babies over the past 18 months.
The child and family agency places unborn children on its Child Protection Notification System if a child is at risk of serious harm.
Access to the CPNS system is strictly controlled and is only available to a very small group of people, such as doctors, emergency department staff or Gardaí.
Chief executive of children's charity Barnardos, Suzanne Connolly, says Tusla usually have very good reason for giving protection to an unborn child.
