Passing pediatrician delivers baby outside entrance

Doctor on the way to lecture delivers baby of woman found in labor in Rehovot hospital public bathroom.

By JUDY SIEGEL
Doctor mother and baby 370 (photo credit: Courtesy Kaplan Medical Center)
Doctor mother and baby 370
(photo credit: Courtesy Kaplan Medical Center)
A pediatrician passing by the public women’s bathroom near the main entrance to Kaplan Medical Center this week heard a woman moaning, found that she was in the last stage of labor, and delivered the baby while taking her to the emergency ward in a wheelchair.
The unusual event happened when Dr. Hanni Olivestone, who treats sick and injured children in her department, was on the way to deliver a lecture to medical students on pediatric medical examinations. The new mother, Rotem Bar, was only in her 37th week of pregnancy when she visited the Rehovot hospital. When she went to the bathroom, she suddenly felt she was about to give birth.
“I felt strong contractions, and I started to shout. When the doctor heard me, she immediately came to help,” Bar said. “I felt I was in good hands.”
Olivestone recalled, “I ran into the bathroom and immediately knew the woman was in advanced labor. I put her in a wheelchair to take her to the delivery room, but at the entrance to the elevator, the baby’s head started to come out. I delivered the baby while moving, and when we reached the emergency room, a midwife named Avivit and I completed the procedure.”
The result was a healthy baby boy weighing 3 kilos.
“Even though I am an expert in treating children, this was the first baby I delivered, and there is no doubt that the experience was very moving for me,” added the doctor, who was invited to the brit mila as a guest of honor.