Purificação Araújo

Maria da Purificação Araújo (5 November 1926 – 22 July 2026) was a Portuguese obstetrician and gynaecologist who has been called the "Mother of Family Planning" in Portugal.

Life and career Maria da Purificação Araújo was born in Lisbon, Portugal on 5 November 1926. She obtained a degree from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon in 1950 and, after a number of internships, became a specialist in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 1964, having taken a post-graduate course in those subjects at the University of London. She later took further courses in Maternal Health and Family Planning in London, Paris and the USA. Portugal at that time suffered from high incidences of maternal deaths and perinatal mortality, reflecting the lack of care available to pregnant women, foetuses and newborns. Only 65% of births were in hospital. Maternity clinics did not have operating rooms nor did they have obstetricians and neonatologists, which meant they were ill-equipped to deal with complications that could arise suddenly. Araújo campaigned for maternity facilities to be linked to hospitals.

In 1971 Araújo was made head of the Maternal Health Service of the Portuguese Directorate-General for Health. The Service was responsible for pregnancy and child health care, as well as the integration of Family Planning into the newly created national Health Centres. Her introduction of prenatal and postnatal care made a major contribution to reducing negative outcomes from pregnancy and childbirth. Arguing that family planning contributed to the promotion of the health of women and children by making it possible to avoid unwanted pregnancies and by spacing births, she promoted the contraceptive pill, together with the Portuguese Family Planning Association. This was very much against the opposition of the Catholic Church. She also campaigned in favour of abortion. Furthermore, Araújo played an important role in the introduction of the Pap test in Portugal. She was a visiting professor at the National School of Public Health (1973–1978). In 1973, she initiated Family Planning Training Courses for doctors and nurses, together with the Family Planning Association.

Araújo died on 22 July 2026, at the age of 99.