The PCP wants to hear from Pizarro and the SNS executive director about “the challenges of emergency obstetric care.”

This Sunday, the PCP requested an urgent hearing with the Health Minister and the SNS chief executive over “issues arising” in emergency obstetric care, given that the government’s response had “resulted in a reduction in the response to pregnant women”.

In its request, the PCP also requests a hearing before the National Federation of Doctors and the Portuguese Nurses Union.

The PCP says the difficulties in the National Health Service (SNS) are “particularly felt” in the area of ​​obstetrics, “where news was made public last year highlighting this situation”.

The party believes that, given the difficulties in question, “the government’s response has focused on more or less rotating service closures or even complete closure of emergency obstetric services, forcing pregnant women to travel long distances to give birth.”

In addition to the rotating closure of emergency obstetric units, PCP also says the government has decided to close the maternity ward of the Santa Maria Hospital in Lisbon and the emergency gynecology and obstetrics service at the Centro Hospitalar do Oeste for work.

Despite recognizing the need for this work, the PKP accuses the government of not developing “any initiative to allow it to be carried out in parallel with maintaining the functioning of maternity hospitals, even in temporary institutions.”

“All the policies adopted by the government regarding emergency care in gynecology and obstetrics have resulted in a reduction in care for pregnant women and an overload of services that are still functioning,” he criticizes.

For PCP, this situation “is of particular concern in the case of Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, where the “Nascer em Segurança” plan, implemented in practice without the participation of specialists and users, leads to the closure of García de Orta’s emergency services. and the Beatrice Angelo Hospital from Thursday to Sunday, as well as the closure of the maternity ward of the Santa Maria Hospital.”

“The referral of pregnant women to other hospitals has resulted in them working in poor conditions, namely, lacking the privacy and peace of mind to receive pregnant women during childbirth, as is the case at San Francisco Xavier Hospital,” he says.

The PCP demands clarification from Manuel Pizarro and Fernando Araújo, as well as from the National Federation of Doctors and the Portuguese Union of Nurses “on the situation with emergency obstetric care and on the measures planned to correct the identified problems in order to meet the needs of pregnant women.” “.