A 33-year-old woman gave birth to a stillborn baby in a bathroom at CUF Tejo in Lisbon during the early hours of this morning (January 16), after reportedly not informing medical staff that she was pregnant.
According to CNN Portugal, PSP police were called to the private hospital at around 2.30am following the incident. The woman, a Portuguese citizen living in Sintra, had arrived at the hospital shortly after midnight accompanied by her partner, complaining of severe back pain.
Shortly after being admitted, she went alone to the bathroom. Minutes later, she called for her partner for help. A doctor and a nurse immediately went to the scene, where they found the foetus in the toilet, already dead, with the umbilical cord cut.
Health professionals believe the pregnancy was at least 30 weeks, based on the size and development of the foetus.
Authorities were notified and the case was handed over to the PJ criminal police, who have opened an investigation into the full circumstances surrounding the case. Both the woman and her partner claim to have been unaware of the pregnancy.
The woman was transferred to the public maternity ward Alfredo da Costa for medical care and remains under PJ supervision.
