A 12-year-old girl helped her mother give birth yesterday, guided by instructions over the phone from a local Magen David Adom medic.
The 33-year-old mother, whose husband was not home when she began to feel sudden birth pangs, ran into the bathroom and cried for her daughter, Esther, to call Magen David Adom. Esther did so, and the operator asked if there was another adult at home. When she said no, medic Ronen Grizak told her, "OK, Esther, stay on the line; you and I are going to help your mother give birth together."
With her two little siblings helping out by bringing water and towels, Esther followed Ronen's instructions by phone. Ronen was at the MDA center in Be'er Sheva, almost 20 kilometers away. "I see the head," Esther cried, and Ronen calmed her, saying that was how it was supposed to be. When the baby was born, Ronen calmly told her, "Now put the baby on your mother's stomach," and when, a few seconds later, the baby girl finally let out a cry, everyone breathed in relief. A few minutes afterwards, an ambulance arrived at the home and took mother and baby to the hospital in Be'er Sheva, where both are doing well.
Ronen had only praise for Esther's behavior under pressure, and Esther, in turn, thanked Ronen. "I just wanted to help my mother," she said later. "It was exciting, amazing, but also scary." The family immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia a number of years ago.
The 33-year-old mother, whose husband was not home when she began to feel sudden birth pangs, ran into the bathroom and cried for her daughter, Esther, to call Magen David Adom. Esther did so, and the operator asked if there was another adult at home. When she said no, medic Ronen Grizak told her, "OK, Esther, stay on the line; you and I are going to help your mother give birth together."
With her two little siblings helping out by bringing water and towels, Esther followed Ronen's instructions by phone. Ronen was at the MDA center in Be'er Sheva, almost 20 kilometers away. "I see the head," Esther cried, and Ronen calmed her, saying that was how it was supposed to be. When the baby was born, Ronen calmly told her, "Now put the baby on your mother's stomach," and when, a few seconds later, the baby girl finally let out a cry, everyone breathed in relief. A few minutes afterwards, an ambulance arrived at the home and took mother and baby to the hospital in Be'er Sheva, where both are doing well.
Ronen had only praise for Esther's behavior under pressure, and Esther, in turn, thanked Ronen. "I just wanted to help my mother," she said later. "It was exciting, amazing, but also scary." The family immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia a number of years ago.