The constant reporting of mothers forced to give birth either waiting for an ambulance to take them to hospital, in an ambulance trying to find a hospital, ‘on the pavement’, or in similarly precarious situations, has seen presidential candidate Luís Marques Mendes say ‘enough is enough!’
It is time for health minister Ana Paula Martins to talk to the country, Marques Mendes tells Lusa.
“One or two cases, here or there, per year, we could all understand”, he explained. “But the fact that it is becoming normal (for women to give birth trying to reach a hospital) is not acceptable. The minister has to accept this, and speak to the country”.
Marques Mendes was on a visit to Évora when quizzed by journalists after Correio da Manhã reported on ‘a new incident’ in which a 39-year-old heavily-pregnant woman told to go home from hospital gave birth hours later in the back of an UBER.
Sofia Baessa was trying to get back to the hospital that had discharged her less than two hours before (telling her she was not in labour).
As CM’s story explains, the birth of Sofia Baessa’s son (David) is just another to add to the list of babies born this year “at home, in ambulances, in the street, in shops and in health centres”.
As of Tuesday night, when David arrived in the back of an UBER, 154 babies had been born ‘out-of-hospitals’, albeit their mothers were trying to reach them, or at least had intended to reach them.
In Marques Mendes’ opinion, Ana Paula Martins should be explaining “what she is doing, or not, to change this situation”.
“The country makes speeches about the need to stimulate the birth rate, and then, every day or every week, we have problems with women giving birth outside of maternity wards. This is unacceptable. It is a contradiction. It is serious – and it is worrying,” he said.
A family, particularly a woman thinking of having children, will be looking at the current state of affairs and feeling “fragile and vulnerable”.
This is exactly the opposite of what the country needs, what politicians have been ‘encouraging citizens to do’ which means “the health ministry cannot look at what is going on and suggest that it is normal. No, this is not normal”, Marques Mendes’ reiterated – thus laying out all the reasons why he believes Ana Paula Martins must step up and speak to the country.
“If she hasn’t planned to, she should”, he added. National citizens should know how she sets out to recover from this debacle, which is not just ‘abnormal’, it implies danger and is “a complete injustice”.
This was a peremptory approach by Marques Mendes, who is better known for his ability to diffuse situations. But he clearly feels (as most citizens probably feel by now) that enough is enough.
As to Marques Mendes’ standing in the ‘presidential race’ that will continue now into the New Year, he told Lusa that he would like to win, but “won’t be upset with anyone” if he doesn’t.
Source material: Lusa/ Correio da Manhã
