Mum-in-law makes emergency delivery of twin girls

A caretaker of the elderly delivered her son’s healthy twin girls – one in a dangerous breech birth position – when her daughter-in-law went into labor suddenly, at her home in Ness Ziona on Tuesday night.

For the mother-in-law, it was the first time she had ever delivered a baby, but she did so with much presence of mind as she is used to taking care of the elderly at Hartzfeld Geriatric Rehabilitation Hospital in the area.

The mother, 28-year-old Reut Kochavi, who has two other children, said she had planned to go to Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot when her labor pains began, as she had done during her first two deliveries.

But at 10 p.m. – exactly when the predictions of Election Day results were about to be announced – Kochavi went into the bathroom.

“I suddenly felt a strong contraction, and the head of the first baby was out. I called my mother-in-law because we know of her experience in nursing care for the elderly. She started to work calmly and responsibly, and delivered both babies despite the problem with the second that it was coming out legs first.”

The baby’s father, Lidor, said he couldn’t believe that his mother had delivered her granddaughters, named Maya and Yaheli.

A Magen David Adom team that arrived near the end took them all to Kaplan. “There’s nobody like Ima,” he said.

His mother has worked at Hartzfeld since 1969 and taken care of old people with great devotion.

When her daughter-in-law was giving birth, she told her: “Don’t worry. Bend your knee, and I’ll get them out. I won’t ever forget this experience, and I’ll have something to tell my granddaughters when they grow up.”

Dr. Adi Weissbuch, a senior obstetrician at Kaplan, said a breech birth for a second twin is complicated. If the first baby weighs more than the second, as in this case the opening of the cervix is wider than necessary, so the baby can be taken out more easily.

The first twin to be born weighed 2.55 kilos and the second 2.15 kilos.

This was however a complicated situation, and such breech cases usually need a cesarean section. “It was fortunate that the MDA team arrived at the end to help the grandmother,” he said.

In the event of an unplanned home birth, Weissbuch advised, call for help from MDA immediately, or for a doctor or a nurse if they live nearby.

The mother must lie down on a bed or other flat surface so the newborn does not fall out. She must try to relax her body, close her eyes, breathe in without pushing and concentrate on slow and deep breathing; she must not breathe rapidly.

When the baby’s head emerges, said Weissbuch, don’t panic. Wait until the head turns and then the shoulders and then pull the baby out. Clean the baby, cover it with a blanket and make sure it is warm.

Don’t cut the umbilical cord; wait for MDA. If you have a sterile gauze, you can tie it between the placenta and the child, but do not cut it. Wait for the placenta to emerge spontaneously; when it does so, massage the mother’s abdomen in round motions to help the uterus contract and prevent bleeding.