N05E - Births

In the past, many children in Portugal were born at home with the assistance of a local midwife. However nowadays most women are encouraged to have hospital births as the medical profession believes that this is a safer option should any complications arise. It is not easy to find doctors or midwives who are willing to attend a planned home birth, but it is not impossible. It requires asking around in your area. Ambulance drivers are also trained to cope with births that may take place in the ambulance or at home before a woman can get to the hospital. The mother and child are then taken to the nearest hospital where they enter the routine procedure for hospital births. 

Once a woman suspects that she may be pregnant, this can be confirmed by a pregnancy kit which can be bought for around €10 in most pharmacies. The normal practice, after a positive result, is to go to a doctor for confirmation of the pregnancy, determination of how advanced the pregnancy is, and timetabling of the monthly pre-natal check-ups. 

The choice is between using the public health service or the private sector. If you are resident and integrated in the social security system, you will have “Número de Utente” issued by the Ministry of Health. This means that you will be issued with a booklet called “Boletim de Saúde da Gravidez” (Health during Pregnancy Bulletin) and that all your check-ups and tests during pregnancy, during the birth itself, and for two months after the birth, are completely free if you use the public health service. The father, or another person chosen by the mother, is allowed to be present at the birth. The alternative is the private sector where one has to pay. There are many doctors with a private practice and a few private hospitals. These are easily located in the yellow pages of the Telephone Directory online or in afpop’s ADvantage directory (the new CONNECT). A newcomer to Portugal may feel happier using a doctor who speaks her native language, or who is more open to a birthing technique that is not in use within the Portuguese public system. 

The medical establishment where the child is born will issue a medical certificate of birth. It is usually necessary to have this medical certificate of birth in order to obtain a Birth Certificate (“Certidão de Nascimento”) which is issued by the Civil Registry (Conservatória do Registo Civil). If the child is born at home, then the parents declare at the Civil Registry that a child has been born and a Birth Certificate will be issued. 

A birth should be registered within 20 days in the Civil Registry of the area where it took place or online , or that of the mother’s usual residence. This should be done by either of the parents if they are married to each other, or by both if they are not. The law assumes that a woman´s husband is the father of her child. However, if the father of the child is not the mother’s husband, then the mother can declare this at the Civil Registry and she has 60 days to start the process of overturning the presumption of paternity (“afastamento de presunção de paternidade”). 

If the name chosen for the child is a recognised Portuguese one, then the only documents necessary to register the birth are the medical certificate of birth from the hospital and the parents’ identity documents. Only foreigners, or Portuguese with dual nationality, can choose foreign names. A child’s own name can have no more than six syllables and may consist of a maximum of two words, e.g., António Manuel or Ana Maria, and the surname may consist of up to a maximum of four family names e.g., Soares Reis Silva e Sousa. The surnames must be chosen either from those belonging to one or both parents, or from any that either parent has the right to use, e.g. the surnames of grandparents. 

The child's first Citizenship Card (“Cartão de Cidadão”), which is requested within one year of birth, is free of charge. When applying for the Cartão de Cidadão, the Civil Identification Number (NIC), the Tax Identification Number (NIF), the Social Security Number (NISS) and the SNS Health Care Number (Nº de Utente) will also be assigned, and it is not necessary to arrange these in advance.

Since the amendment to the Portuguese Nationality Law (“Lei de Nacionalidade Portuguesa” Lei n.º 37/81), approved in 2020, children of foreigners born in Portugal are entitled to citizenship with simpler criteria. Therefore, Portuguese citizenship is granted to children of foreign parents (when both are not Portuguese citizens), provided that at least one of them has lived in Portugal for one year. Children of foreigners often have the right to their parents´ nationality. This is usually dealt with at the appropriate consulate. The procedures for this vary and you need to consult your own consulate. Sometimes it is also necessary to register the child’s birth with the consulate in order to obtain citizenship for that child.