A baby was born in an ambulance belonging to the Volunteer Firefighters of Moita, while the emergency vehicle was traveling on the A2 towards Setúbal on Friday morning.
The announcement came from the Moita Volunteer Firefighters on Facebook: “Life doesn’t wait. Today [Friday], at around 10:40 AM, a mother and her child, whose names will remain confidential at their request, met eye to eye for the first time on the A2, heading to Setúbal, under the care of firefighters Hugo Rodrigues and Jorge Ribeiro.”
The organization shared that the mother, child, and emergency personnel are all doing well but issued a reminder: “Today was a good day. Because life doesn’t care about the contingencies of closed obstetric emergencies. And it doesn’t wait.”
The President of the Portuguese Firefighters League also noted on Friday that fire departments are currently struggling with management issues due to emergency room constraints, estimating that at least 38 babies have been born in ambulances so far this year.
António Nunes mentioned that emergency exits used to be confined to the district, which is no longer the case. As a result, operations are taking more than three hours.
He emphasized that this situation is not limited to the district of Setúbal, where emergency room constraints are severe, but is also occurring elsewhere in the country. He recalled that the Humanitarian Association of Volunteer Firefighters of Macedo de Cavaleiros transported a pregnant woman to Braga last week and pointed out that patients from the districts of Guarda and Viseu often have to be taken to Coimbra.
In April, the Health Minister, Ana Paula Martins, stressed the need to ensure fewer births occur in ambulances, although she acknowledged that similar situations have always existed.
The Portuguese Firefighters League warned today that fire departments are facing management difficulties due to emergency room constraints, estimating that this year at least 38 babies have been born in ambulances.
Lusa | 18:46 – 18/07/2025
“The goal is for fewer babies to be born in ambulances, especially through well-monitored pregnancies. If there is an area where we have distinguished ourselves over the last 45 years, it is in maternal and child health, and we must ensure these indicators remain,” she stated at the end of a visit to the Hospital de Santa Cruz, part of the Western Lisbon Local Health Unit.
When asked specifically about the increasing number of births occurring in ambulances and data showing that around fifty such births took place last year, Ana Paula Martins responded that this phenomenon has always happened and will continue to occur as it is unavoidable in some cases.
“But naturally, it is not at all our goal,” she said.
The Health Minister, Ana Paula Martins, stated on Wednesday that it is necessary to ensure fewer babies are born in ambulances, although such situations have always existed.
Lusa | 18:25 – 23/04/2025
