According to the hospital, the woman, who was in her ninth month of pregnancy, was struggling with a serious case of coronavirus. She called the hospital after reporting that she had not felt any fetal movements for 24 hours.
The hospital said that “she delayed several hours from the time she called the hospital’s hotline until she arrived at the hospital.”
Upon her admission to a Hadassah coronavirus unit, she was met by a midwife and connected to a monitor. An obstetrician also was called and performed an ultrasound that confirmed the lack of fetal movements. An emergency surgery team was organized and the baby was delivered.
A report by KAN News said that it took 40 minutes to arrange the surgery, but a spokesperson for the hospital said there was no basis to that timeframe.
“The medical specialists did everything they could to help in this complex and difficult situation,” the hospital said in a statement, noting that they performed resuscitation on the baby. The infant was hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit in very serious condition until he passed away.
Hadassah is examining the case and reported its details to the Health Ministry.
Another newborn baby is struggling for his life at Schneider Children’s Medical Center after he was delivered Friday evening in an emergency C-section.
The mother, 33-year-old Rachel, is also struggling for her life in the Beilinson coronavirus intensive care unit. She was 31 weeks pregnant at the time of delivery and the baby was born at only 199 grams.
Prof. Arnon Wiznitzer, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Beilinson, said Sunday that the current wave of coronavirus has been much more difficult than previous waves and that many more young people have sought treatment at the facility.
“We have dealt with around 150 pregnant women from March until now,” the professor said. “This is the most difficult one so far.”