Digital pregnancy report and user number for newborns among measures announced by government

A digital pregnancy report and the assignment of a user number to newborns before discharge from the maternity ward are two of 15 administrative simplification measures announced by the Minister of Youth and Modernisation on Tuesday.

“I would highlight the availability of health bulletins for pregnant women, children and young people, as well as the allocation of a user number for newborns,” said Margarida Balseiro Lopes at the end of the first Council of Ministers meeting on digital transition and modernization, which took place on Tuesday at the Faculty of Science and Technology of the Nova University (Nova FCT) in Almada, listing some of the 15 measures approved on Tuesday.

“Basically, at present we have a ballot for pregnant women and a ballot for minor children on paper and this creates a number of problems,” a government official said.

Not only for health professionals, who often have difficulty accessing information, but also for pregnant women, who, when they go to a consultation through the National Health Service (SNS), have a bulletin, and later, when they go to a private individual, have another bulletin.

“And this is not good for anyone,” he said, noting that in 2025, both maternity and child health certificates will be dematerialized.

And there is a “third measure that is especially important: currently, registration of a child and assignment of a user number in private maternity hospitals does not happen,” he emphasized.

Now “our concern is that parents, in connection with the birth of a newborn, do not worry about the need to go to register the child; all this is done before the child leaves the maternity ward,” he said.

Thirdly, there is also the automatic allocation of an initial parental benefit, the purpose of which is to “make life easier for people”.

Thus, thanks to direct social security, “instead of delivering documents, the Social Security Service now has access to information about the child’s birth and registration and, very importantly, informs parents of the conditions of eligibility.”

And parents have the opportunity to use the simulator to understand “what is the best solution in terms of managing parental leave,” he explained.

According to Margarida Balseiro Lopes, this is a “measure with great social impact.”

A government official also announced the Perdi a Carteira digital meter.

“Since 2007 we have had a counter at Loja de Cidadao das Laranjeiras, but it only exists in this store where we can access our documents” when they are lost or taken, he said, acknowledging that it is always “a big hassle” to go to different services.

“What we are going to do is make it available in digital format and we are going to introduce this service on gov.pt,” which includes several facilities so that people can access duplicates of their cards with one click, which are sent home.

Another advanced measure is aimed at companies.

“Since 2014, the state has not been able to request documents that it already has in its possession,” but “now the law must be applied and the conditions must be guaranteed from a technical point of view so that the law can actually be applied,” he said.

In this sense, “this measure ensures that the electronic platform of public suppliers will be improved, it will receive new functions that will allow a company that applies for a certain public tender or has won this public tender, but which must constantly provide documents such as, since you are not obliged to declare your debt to Social Security, the tax office or the criminal registry, you do not need to do this,” he explained.

“In this case, the company gives permission to the state, and then the state, which has this information, approaches the state for these documents, easing the burden that companies currently bear,” he concluded.

The deadline for implementation of all 15 measures is 2025.