Portugal's new childbirth law drops the term 'obstetric violence' — here's what it says instead
Portugal's parliament approved a new law on pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum rights that removes the term obstetric violence, adds mental-health support and creates a national oversight council.
The phrase that named years of debate has been written out of the law. Portugal’s parliament approved on Friday a replacement text that substantially rewrites the law on rights in preconception, medically assisted reproduction, pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period — and the most talked-about change is one of vocabulary: “obstetric violence” becomes “inadequate, disrespectful or non-consensual interventions”.
What changes in Portugal’s childbirth law?
More than the name, the package of guarantees. Obstetric procedures must now follow adequate clinical criteria, the norms of the Directorate-General of Health and the best scientific evidence, always with the patient’s informed consent. The law adds two new articles: a right to mental-health support and counselling within maternal-health services, and a mandatory satisfaction questionnaire in every establishment providing maternity care. It also creates a National Council for the Protection of Pregnancy and Perinatal Care to keep watch on how wards actually perform — no small thing at a time when the SNS is recruiting doctors and nurses to fill gaps.
Why was the term ‘obstetric violence’ removed?
Because the majority behind the text argued the expression blamed health professionals rather than describing practices to eliminate — the case medical orders and societies had been making. Those defending the term counter that the World Health Organization itself uses it, and that naming a problem is the first step to fixing it. The vote mirrored that divide: Livre and the Left Bloc voted against, Chega abstained, and the remaining benches passed the bill. The full text and its parliamentary journey are on the Assembleia da República’s official portal.
Between the label and the substance, this argument isn’t over — mothers’ associations and clinicians will judge the law by what changes in delivery rooms, not in the dictionary. That verdict belongs to time, and to that new satisfaction questionnaire.
Image: Carlos Luis M C da Cruz / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
