In the first two months of the year, 32 pregnant women were referred to private maternity hospitals, the Executive Directorate of the National Health Service (DE-SNS) said, stressing that these cases are isolated.
In total, of 4,140 births, less than 1.5% were sent to units agreed with the SNS, whenever the installed capacity was filled in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region, where the greatest difficulties in responding to these situations were encountered, due to a shortage of doctors.
When the capacity of the SNS in this region is full, the plan defined by DE-SNS allows the Center for Emergency Patient Care of the National Institute of Emergency Medicine (CODU/INEM) to care for pregnant women in labor, more than 36 weeks of pregnancy and without risk factors for private hospitals sectors.
In a note accompanying the new gynecology/obstetrics emergency map, DE-SNS emphasizes that SNS’s capacity as a network is “capable of being responsive to demand,” referring to an average of only one pregnant woman every two years. days to avoid “travel to more distant facilities.”
DE-SNS acknowledges the shortage of gynecologists/obstetricians and neonatologists/paediatricians in Portugal, emphasizing that this situation is observed throughout the world.
According to World Health Organization forecasts, this situation will continue “in the medium term,” he adds.
The executive leadership of the SNS has decided to maintain until the end of April the operation scheme of Operation Safe Birth in the SNS, which was in effect in the first quarter.
Thus, 28 of 43 services will operate uninterruptedly, two maternity wards will only accept referred patients, and eight will have interruptions due to a shortage of doctors.