The first babies of couples who temporarily had to evacuate the North because of rockets during the Second Lebanon War are being born at Safed's Ziv Hospital and other hospitals that were the target of Hizbullah attacks.
[Babies in photo are not related to the article]
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski
Ziv medical director Dr. Oscar Embon said that according to health fund reports, the number of pregnancies among women in the North is 35 percent higher now than at this time in 2006. Doctors, psychologists and sexologists explain that the "mini-baby boom" was motivated by the determination that life must go on despite the war and to "take revenge" on an enemy that wants to destroy Israel.
Creating new life, said the experts, is a source of consolation and hope. After every Israeli war, there is an increased number of pregnancies and deliveries; experts said that even animals that feel the threat of war are more likely to mate as an instinct for survival.
Einat and Itai Lahmi, both students in their late 20s who live in Kiryat Shmona, fled the terrorists' rockets and spent the 34 days of the war with their parents in the center of the country. "We wanted a child, and we were together a lot. We didn't work or study. So the war was a wonderful opportunity to have a baby." Their baby girl was born weighing 2.96 kg.
Dina and Sergei Myorov from Karmiel spent the war in Tel Aviv with her aunt. "We wanted another baby, but because we work night shifts, we didn't have time to get together. The war, even though it sounds absurd, was our opportunity." Their son, named Yisrael Lior, was born weighing 3.5 kg.
Nirit and Eran Ya'acov were in Hatzor in the Galilee during the war. After trying for months to get pregnant, they went through the war at home and succeeded. Their daughter, Rom (meaning "heights") was born weighing 2.84 kg. "After all, we are apparently higher than our enemies," Nirit explained.
