The Centro Hospitalar do Oeste (taking in hospitals of Caldas da Rainha, Torres Vedras and Peniche) have installed an online video system so that new mums can watch over babies that need to spend time in incubators.
It is a bit of ‘good news’ in a week when Portugal heard, yet again, that its birthing rate was “the second worst in Europe” – with less than six babies born per day.
Only Italy has a worse result, according to statistics published by Eurostat.
The bottom line is that the Portuguese race is dwindling no matter how much better the economy may be doing to encourage people to start families.
In 2016, for example, 110,000 Portuguese died, with only 87,000 births replacing them.
The figures see Portugal among 10 European countries where the population is shrinking, adds Eurostat.
