Tuesday's rocket attack in South induced Ashdod woman to give birth

As sirens sounded warning of projectile attack, Lital Biton’s water broke, leading to the birth of a healthy baby girl at Rehovot’s Kaplan Medical Center.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Lital Biton and baby girl (photo credit: Courtesy)
Lital Biton and baby girl
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Running for shelter when the siren sounded in Ashdod following the falling of a terrorist rocket in Gan Yavne on Tuesday induced Lital Biton’s waters to break, leading to the birth of a healthy baby girl at Rehovot’s Kaplan Medical Center.
 
Delivery room director Dr. Roni Levy said that it was the fetus that broadcast the signal to start the birth. She heard and felt everything her mother felt and reacted.” Lital and her husband Elran also have a three-year-old boy, Ofri, who was born a month after Operation Cast Lead launched to fight rocket attacks from Gaza as well.
 
“I took an afternoon walk and came home. I fell asleep watching the news on TV. Suddenly, we heard the siren; I already felt pressure. I took Ofri in my arms, and while running, my waters broke somewhat prematurely, apparently from the stress. The sirens are always stressful, but now especially after the relative calm since last August,” she said. She called her husband, who was at work, and her mother, and rushed to Kaplan. A few hours later, the healthy baby was born.
 
“We wish our children and all the children of Israel that the sirens will stop and they will be able to live peacefully, quietly and safely. At least something positive this time came from the sirens,” Lital said.
 
Levy said that although there is no scientific research about the timing of births as a result of stress or anxiety while running for shelter during a rocket attack, it seems clear that the fetus was sending a message to start the birth. Anxiety can cause the water in her womb to break. We have a lot of experience.”
 
Avivit Karni Tzanhani, the chief nurse in the obstetrics department, said that sirens are liable to bring in many pregnant women from Ofakim, Netivot, Sderot and Ashkelon to the hospital -- and that they usually cause premature births. “But the women are completely safe here in protected areas, and despite the crowding, we provide all of them with warmth and support.”