Movement calls for an end to pre-screening through the SNS Pregnant

The Democratic Women's Movement (MDM) held the Government responsible this Sunday for the failures in gynecology and obstetrics services and defended the end of telephone pre-screening through the SNS Grávida line.

“The MDM rejects blaming healthcare professionals or an alleged lack of organisation of services, when what is at stake is precisely the lack of conditions for any organisation to function,” the movement said in a statement.

Specifically, the MDM referred to the recent case of a woman from Barreiro who lost her baby after being taken to Cascais hospital, but also highlighted the “serious and continued degradation” of the National Health Service (SNS), in particular the emergency obstetrics services.

Referring to the lack of professionals, the fulfillment of overtime beyond the legal limits and the lack of adequate equipment and facilities, the movement warns that “no service can withstand this scenario of disinvestment and wear and tear” and attributes responsibility to the executive, whom it accuses of disregarding the rights of pregnant women to access health care.

Therefore, they advocate a set of measures, including the “immediate revocation” of mandatory telephone pre-screening, via the SNS Grávida line, which they say has gaps and delays access to urgent and essential care.

The movement also advocates the reinforcement of human and material resources in maternity wards and delivery rooms, the valorization of professionals' careers and salaries, the increase in the number of vacancies and faster hiring processes in the specialties of gynecology/obstetrics, anesthesia, psychology and pediatrics, as well as the expansion of neonatology coverage to more regions of the country.

“We demand that the NHS has the necessary means to guarantee women’s safety and avoid tragic outcomes that are, in many cases, avoidable,” the statement highlights.

Regarding the case of the pregnant woman from Barreiro who lost her baby after being taken to the Cascais hospital, the Minister of Health assured, on Friday, that “there was no deficiency” in the care provided.

“There was no deficiency in the care, classification, referral or arrival at the location, which was, in fact, the hospital that had, at that time, the conditions for differentiated perinatal care, that is, neonatology”, stated Ana Paula Martins.