Private births of pregnant women after transfer from the SNS account for less than 1%

The number of pregnant women transferred from the National Health Service (SNS) to private hospitals between June 1 and September 10 in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region represents less than 1% of births carried out in these facilities.

These data were published on Tuesday to Lusa by the president of the Portuguese Association of Private Hospitalization (APHP) after the SNS Executive Directorate announced that of the approximately 6,750 births that occurred between June 1 and September 10 in the region, in Lisbon and Vale do Tehu only 24 pregnant women were transferred to private hospitals (0.13%) under Operation Social Safe Birth Summer 2023.

Oscar Gaspard emphasized that the low percentage indicates that “private individuals are conducting their own and consistent activities in this and other specialties, not related to the SNA.”

“This experience allows us to draw some important conclusions and refute with facts the demagoguery that is so often propagated. “Fake news” must be exposed, especially since it is harmful to health in this sector,” he warned.

The APHP leader also highlighted that “the price for a normal birth was €1,965.60 and for a caesarean section was €3,005.1 as determined by the government,” hinting that there had recently been speculation “that the amount paid to private hospitals, amounted to five thousand euros, that it would be a big deal, and that even turning to private companies would be motivated by its financing.”

“The claim that childbirth on social media constitutes a business is baseless as this activity is not reflected in the reports of private hospitals,” he said.

Oscar Gaspard also emphasized that “the presence of a strong and high-quality private healthcare system has allowed the state to reassure all pregnant women in the country by offering them this option if necessary.”

“Previous uncertainty has been replaced by confidence that pregnant women will have all the conditions to be able to live this very important moment of their lives in the best conditions available. The great victory of this agreement is that – a clear agreement enabled a clear service and solution for the NHS. Programmed and predictable coordination increases healthcare supply and sustainability,” he said.

In a preliminary review of the operation on Tuesday, Luse, the SNS chief executive, said that “it was a difficult process due to the leaves of specialists and many other problems that occurred during this period”, such as strikes, but stressed that “despite everything this, the operation went very smoothly and in an orderly manner.”

According to Fernando Araujo, predictability in terms of open and functioning places remains “very high, which gives and certainly gives confidence to pregnant women and security to professionals.”

Between January and August, 16,155 births were registered in the LVT (excluding births in the Centro Hospitalar do Oeste, whose maternity unit is integrated into the Centro Hospitalar de Leiria, which belongs to the central region), plus about 500 births (+3.2%) compared with the same period in 2022.

When asked whether Operation Born Safe will continue, Fernando Araujo responded that it is being assessed with institutions as this period has passed, noting that executive decisions are “always based on participation and dialogue with institutions and professionals “