A clinic in Pinhal Novo is facing allegations for failing to detect serious fetal malformations in 2023, alongside overlooking the risk of Down syndrome in another pregnancy.
The report highlights a situation similar to a previous case involving a child born without part of their right leg and with only two toes on their feet. The mother, Tânia Correia, shared that her daughter Leonor was born healthy, but she only discovered the potential health concerns at a point when abortion was no longer legally permitted.
“I always felt that the ultrasounds were rushed. They didn’t allow companions. Everything was very hurried, and the doctor didn’t explain what he was doing,” Tânia Correia told SIC Notícias, noting that the doctor barely spoke to her.
At 25 weeks pregnant, Tânia lost her family doctor and began to see an obstetrician. “When he checked the ultrasounds I had, he told me: ‘In this second ultrasound, the nose is small. Didn’t they tell you anything?'” she recalled, revealing that no one had mentioned this to her before.
Tânia said the doctor also pointed out that the first ultrasound, which screens for chromosomal anomalies, wasn’t performed correctly. According to the doctor, “It lacks the proper enlargement for measuring neck translucency, so I can’t trust this risk calculation for trisomy. Together with the small nose, it raises suspicion of Down syndrome.”
Tânia, who has not filed a complaint against the clinic, showed ultrasound results indicating “no signs of facial clefts and the orbits, nose, and jaw appear normal.”
“We felt like the ground was taken from beneath us,” Tânia recalled regarding how at 25 weeks, since overturning the situation wasn’t an option and they had to accept it, stating, “We were left without ground,” she added. “I remember crying and telling my belly: ‘Mom loves you the same.’ It was very hard to process,” she said.
Subsequent ultrasounds ruled out a Down syndrome diagnosis, and Tânia noted differences in the images and the treatment, saying, “It was completely different. [The doctor was] more attentive, speaking to me.”
The clinic in question stated to SIC Notícias that it lacks the authority to monitor ultrasounds and declined interviews.
The investigation involving the child born without part of a leg is ongoing in the Setúbal Department of Investigation and Criminal Action. Parents were always informed that everything was fine, but malformations were only detected at birth. The diagnosis confirmed the most severe type of fibular hemimelia, type II, characterized by the complete or partial absence of the fibula.
As revealed on Tuesday, the Health Regulatory Entity (ERS) received eight complaints about the owner of Clínica Ceraque, with branches in Queluz and Pinhal Novo since 2023. Four complaints were from 2023, two from the previous year, and two from this year.
