A mother breastfeeds her newborn son in preterm unit of the Maternity Alfredo da Costa, Lisbon.
In MAC, every year 6000 babies are born, about 6% of all country’s births. About 150 of newborns in MAC weight less than 1500 grams. Since 2007 this unit is part of UNICEF’s “Baby-friendly hospitals”, an initiative where promoting breast-feeding is a golden rule.
Meanwhile the maternity-hospital services were suspended as the portuguese economic crisis is pushing the Government to close the oldest working unit in Portugal.