Gan Yavne woman delivers baby on hospital bench

29-year-old woman gives birth to healthy baby girl while sitting on bench at Tzrifin’s Assaf Harofeh Medical Center.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
baby with mother 311 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
baby with mother 311
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
A 29-year-old woman gave birth to a healthy baby girl on Monday while sitting on a bench at Tzrifin’s Assaf Harofeh Medical Center.
R., from Gan Yavne, was in her parents home when her water broke. She asked her husband to take her to the hospital. Contractions increased in frequency during the ride in the car, and when they arrived at Assaf Harofeh, the young woman asked to sit on the first bench she saw.
Her husband called doctors and nurses to help, and swiftly an obstetrics team arrived with equipment and shooed away all observers. Within seven minutes of their arrival, a 2.7-kilo baby girl was delivered.
“Everyone around me applauded,” R. recalled.
The mother and baby were rushed to the recovery room as she no longer needed the delivery room. Midwife Karen Lee Ovadia said she was alerted that a woman was giving birth outside the department.
“I immediately grabbed gloves, sheets, blankets and delivery equipment.”
As R. was fully dressed, her trousers were removed and the girl’s head was seen to be outside. The team members turned the sheets and blankets into a makeshift tent to ensure privacy.
“Moments like these are worth everything,” the midwife said afterward.