“In the National Health Service (SNS) hospitals, the percentage of caesarean sections in total births corresponded to 30.7%, contrasting with the reality of private hospitals, where the percentage of caesarean sections rose to 65.9% of deliveries”, indicates ERS.

According to the document, the most representative type of caesarean section in private and social hospitals was scheduled (49.0%), while in public hospitals urgent caesarean sections were the most frequent (53.9%).

Of the 75,468 births carried out in 2021, 60,759 were in public hospitals and the remaining 14,709 took place in units outside the SNS.

As for accessibility to the 61 public and private birthing blocks, ERS adds that around 91% of women of childbearing age have a medium or high level of access to these medical services, but 8% of this population still faces “a level of low access or at an excessive distance”, greater than 60 minutes of travel.

Of the total of 75,468 deliveries performed, 80.5% took place in SNS establishments and 43.0% took place in Lisbon and the Tagus Valley and 34.2% in the North, while at the opposite extreme is the Alentejo, which represented only 3.2% of all births in 2021.