The Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) has reacted to the news regarding a pregnant woman who, at 31 weeks and at risk, lost her baby after being directed to a hospital over an hour away from her residence.
The party claims the incident “highlights the unsustainable situation to which the actions of the current and previous governments have led obstetrics within the National Health Service (SNS).”
“They have degraded working conditions and compensation for doctors in general, and obstetricians in particular, despite knowing that obstetrics, alongside pediatrics, was among the specialties most sought after in the private sector for its profitability potential, where more specialists are recruited,” the statement reads.
According to the PCP, “the government’s complete inaction in this area, as was the case with the PS government, only intermittently closing services and preparing for permanent closures, has led to insecurity and inhumanity for pregnant women.”
“There are almost daily reports of pregnant women traveling from hospital to hospital, seeking a vacancy or care, or being forced on long journeys to access obstetric care,” the party states.
The PCP argues that this is a “deliberate policy that threatens the safety of pregnant women and their children” and deems it “imperative to take decisive action to enhance healthcare professionals’ careers,” investing in services and opposing “the closure of most childbirth and obstetric emergency units in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region.”
The party further states that, “irrespective of any eventual determination of technical responsibilities, it must be clearly stated that the fundamental responsibilities are political and evident to all.”
“The responsibility lies with the government and its policy that deliberately endangers women, their pregnancies, and their children,” the PCP accuses.
The PCP has consequently requested an urgent hearing with the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, in the Assembly of the Republic, “to provide clarifications on the situation in the gynecology and obstetrics emergency services and the measures the government intends to take to definitively resolve the current issues.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health, in a statement, denied that assistance was refused to the pregnant woman who lost her baby, assuring that she was accompanied by an INEM doctor during the journey from Barreiro to Cascais Hospital.
“At every moment, access to healthcare was ensured, concluding that the response provided to the user by both the SNS pregnant woman’s line and INEM was consistent with the referral and access protocols in force,” the ministry assures in its statement.
The reaction from the Ministry of Health follows reports by RTP about a pregnant woman at 31 weeks who reportedly called the Health 24 line unsuccessfully and eventually called 112, prompting the Barreiro fire department to be dispatched.
According to the report, the woman was ultimately transported to Cascais because the emergency department at Hospital S. Bernardo in Setúbal, which should have been open, was closed due to overcrowding, a situation denied by the ministry.
