"Today, I hope!" he says with a nervous smile.
The birth of a new baby is a joyous occasion. But in Portugal, it's an increasingly rare one. Since the economic crisis hit, the country's birthrate has dropped 14 percent, to less than 1.3 babies per woman — one of the lowest in the world.
Rising unemployment and poverty mean people are putting off having kids, or moving abroad. Portuguese schools and maternity hospitals are closing. They just don't get enough business anymore.
Carvalho says he's able to have a rare second child thanks only to his relatively secure public sector job, as a Lisbon bus driver. But his wages have been cut, and he worries about the future.
"I have a lot of friends going to England, to France — because they don't have a job in Portugal," Carvalho says. "It's difficult, very difficult."
More than 100,000 Portuguese of child-bearing age move abroad each year. That's one person emigrating every five minutes, in a country of just 10 million. Many of those who stay home in Portugal put off having families indefinitely. They can't afford it.
Lowest Level In 60 Years
Dr. Ana Campos is the head obstetrician at the hospital where Carvalho's daughter is being born, Maternidade Doutor Alfredo da Costa. She first started delivering babies there 32 years ago.
"The rooms were filled. We had more than 40 deliveries a day," Campos recalls. "And now we have 10 deliveries in one day — one-quarter."
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