Latest news and stories about maternal health in daily life in Portugal for expats and residents.
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In 2025, 1,946 births were recorded, representing a 6% increase compared with the previous year. The municipalities with the highest numbers of registered births are Viseu with 793 and Guarda with 159.
Press review: births to Portuguese women have experienced a significant decline.
Two of the maternity hospitals with the highest number of births in Portugal are private institutions, a shift that analysts link to the country’s rising caesarean rate, now at a record high. The expansion of deliveries in the private sector appears to be a key driver of growing caesarean use nationally, while within the SNS the public unit with the most births is Maternidade Alfredo da Costa. The pattern raises questions about clinical practice variation between sectors, implications for maternal and neonatal outcomes, and the need for policy and oversight to address incentives and standardise care.
Experts link the rise in the number of births to immigration, noting that 30% of last year's newborns 'were born to mothers who are not Portuguese'.
The fire brigade says it performed 15 births in ambulances last year.
936 babies were born to Portuguese mothers and 554 to foreign mothers, with the majority of the newborns being male.
Marques Mendes urged the President and the Government not to stall a bill establishing regional obstetric emergency departments, saying he hopes they decide before he assumes the Presidency on 9 March to avoid it becoming one of his first decisions in office.
