Order considers specialist nurses' monitoring of pregnancy a 'historic step'

A newly published normative dispatch in the Diário da República allows specialist maternal and obstetric nurses in primary healthcare units to oversee low-risk pregnancies from the first visit. Nurses can request diagnostic exams, screenings, vaccinations, supplements, and pregnancy certificates, working alongside family doctors and hospital obstetrics services. The model will be evaluated after 12 months, with the Order of Nurses setting up a monitoring committee to oversee its rollout.