“Of course it greatly bothers me that births occur in ambulances or even in public spaces, but I have already requested and am waiting to conduct a systematic survey to understand why this happens,” said Luís Montenegro to journalists during a visit to the Beneficente Portuguesa Hospital in Pará.
When asked if he maintained political confidence in the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, Luís Montenegro responded: “Totally, totally, in the Minister of Health and in all members of the Government. There is no member of the Government who can be in office without my total confidence.”
For Luís Montenegro, the recent instances of childbirth in ambulances may occur “for many reasons, and none of them are related to the inefficiency or lack of responsiveness of the National Health Service.”
He stressed the need for “awareness of why this happens and the conditions under which it happens,” added the prime minister.
“I am not, in fact, trivializing this situation. We are committed to ensuring not only the urgent care services necessary to address the most emergency situations but also to provide permanent obstetric care throughout all territorial areas of the country,” he emphasized.
Last week, a 38-week pregnant woman from Guinea-Bissau entered the emergency service, transported by a team from the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM), in cardiac arrest.
The baby was born via emergency cesarean at the Amadora/Sintra Local Health Unit and later died.
The hospital opened an internal investigation into the circumstances of the pregnant woman’s death, who had visited the hospital for a consultation where hypertension was detected, as announced by the institution.
The case gained more significance following remarks by Ana Paula Martins, who stated in Parliament, when questioned by deputies, that the woman who died, aged 36, had not received prior care at the hospital.
Two days later, the administration of the ULS Amadora-Sintra acknowledged that the pregnant woman who died, after being discharged days earlier, was being monitored in primary health care since July.
When questioned during the visit to the Beneficente Portuguesa Hospital in Pará about the minister’s statements, Luís Montenegro emphasized that “this information was found to be incomplete, and consequently, the person responsible for issuing the information ended up resigning.”
“Frankly, we deeply regret that this happened. It was and is desirable for this not to happen, but these things do happen; no one is infallible,” he said.
