In a note sent to the media, ULS do Algarve states that the information that baby Alice’s birth took place on public roads is “wrong” due to the alleged closure of that service in Portimão. “Such information does not correspond to the truth, since the aforementioned public service in Portimão was open and operating without any constraints”, reads the clarification.
According to the version now broadcast, the couple – residing in Portimão – “I had arranged the birth in a private hospital in Faro“. During the journey to this private unit, the pregnant woman went into labor, causing the car to stop on the A22, where the baby was born. INEM was called and transported mother and daughter to Faro Hospital.
At the public unit, the mother expressed her intention to sign a discharge form to proceed to the private hospital, but “the pediatrician who observed the mother and baby advised her to remain under observation at the public hospital, namely at the Hospital de Faro at ULS Algarve, where they remain. Both mother and baby are fine”, says the same note.
ULS also highlights: “At no point did the couple want to look for the Portimão Hospital for the birth. However, if they had decided to do so and if they had gone there, the Gynecology and Obstetrics Emergency Service at the ULS Algarve Hospital de Portimão was open and fully operational.”