Baby born in ambulance and dies after arriving at Leiria Hospital

A baby was born prematurely on Thursday in an ambulance belonging to the Nazaré Volunteer Fire Department, in the Leiria district, but ended up dying after being admitted to the Obstetrics Emergency Department at Leiria Hospital, according to the newspaper Expresso.

The Nazaré Firefighters, the newspaper reports, were called by the Urgent Patient Guidance Center (CODU) of the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM), transferred by 112, at around 8:30 am on Thursday, to go to Valado dos Frades, the location of the request for assistance.

The Nazaré Fire Department and the Alcobaça Immediate Life Support ambulance were called, and the teams were already with the pregnant woman, who was 26 weeks pregnant. The teams requested support from INEM, which at around 8:50 approved the extra help from the Emergency Medical and Resuscitation Vehicle (VMER) from the Coimbra hospital.

The VMER left Coimbra hospital at 08:56 for a meeting point on Motorway 8 (A8), on the way to Leiria hospital.

According to the newspaper, at 09:16, the CODU was informed that the birth had taken place, at 09:10, in the ambulance and with the support of an Immediate Life Support (SIV) ambulance, when they were about 10 minutes from the Leiria hospital, where they were heading.

The newborn died after being admitted to the Leiria hospital, with death being declared at 9:53 am.

The president of the National Federation of Doctors (FNAM) said on Thursday that in just half of this year, 36 babies have been born in ambulances, considering that this is “not normal”.

Last week, two pregnant women from the Setúbal region lost their babies.

One of the pregnant women was taken to Cascais Hospital and another lost her baby after being treated at five hospitals.