Unlucky babies get a "first hug"

Hundreds of babies are abandoned in hospitals across the country every year, First Hug volunteers give them the human and warm touch they so need

An adopted girl who was abandoned and is now the CEO of "First Hug".

Sion Almaz, 52 years old, married and mother of four children, resident of Karkur, is an adopted child who was adopted by Jewish Israeli parents at the age of three, from Seoul, Korea. For three years, the family lived abroad, and in 1974 at the age of 6, Sivan immigrated to Israel with her parents to Jerusalem, where she grew up. Upon graduation, Sivan joined the armored unit and after the liberation, studied social work at Tel Aviv University.

For me it's full circle

"I read a lot about the activity of the association and I told myself that I want to be there. I am adopted and basically they abandoned me, so for me it is a closing of the circle" says Sion Almaz.

Want to take these babies home

"When I see hurt and sick babies, I feel like I want to "kidnap" them and take them home. As soon as I know that the volunteers come in and hug the baby, I feel as if they hugged little Sivan who was abandoned - the abandoned girl inside me, and this is a great joy, because the hug is Very significant to life."

"First Hug" association

The 'First Hug' association was established in 2004 by the founder Michal Koriat. In 2011 Sivan started working for the association as a social worker and a year later she became the CEO.

The main office of the association is near Rupin College and our activity today is spread in 29 hospitals and rehabilitation centers throughout the country, from the south to the north. There are 500 volunteers, of which about 30 are in the hospitals in Haifa - Bnei Zion and Rambam.

The association began contacts with the Carmel Hospital, but these have not yet yielded a result and an organized activity has not yet begun. "We were definitely interested in that," says Sion.

Hugging improves medical indices

"For the most part, the touch of the medical staff is considered a painful touch, because they take their blood, prick them and treat them medically. The touch of the volunteers is a touch of love, of warmth, a mother's touch.

From a medical point of view, you can see that a hugged baby who receives the warmth and love, his medical indicators increase and improve, the blood circulation increases, the pulse stabilizes and the doctor can see the difference between how he was before and after we started hugging him.

The hug gives the baby a sense of security that he is loved. The hug is the basis for his development, he can realize his abilities and is a cornerstone for social development to be hugged and hug others."

Abandoned, sick, or long-term hospitalized babies

"There are children with medical problems who are abandoned, but there are also healthy children who are abandoned, because there are parents who do not have parental capacity, whose parental capacity is poor and does not allow the care of the baby. This is also a decision of the Ministry of Welfare. There are healthy children who are abandoned to mothers who have been raped, or children who are born to parents minors".  

That the sequence of the hug will not be damaged

"15% of the total number of children treated by us are abandoned," says Sivan. "We at 'First Hug' also help parents whose children are hospitalized 24/7. Children who are in the hospital for months due to treatments. We help those parents in a specific way, for certain hours, or a certain day of the week, so that the sequence of the hug is not affected."

The difficulties of the association

"Most of the association's budget is dedicated to further education and training for volunteers, accompaniment and training for social workers, and also to the needs of babies who have been there for a long time who need things to feel at home, such as: blankets, clothes, toys, towels, beds, soap, etc.

The corona virus that affected the economy also affected the donations to the association. We do not receive a government budget and we rely on donations from the public and donations from small companies and offices. So we were also affected and hurt during this period of the corona virus."

Cut as much as you can without hurting the babies

"We are in the month of August and we have not yet reached a third of the planned annual budget. We are cutting as many things as we can without harming the babies. The money we need is to train the volunteers who are waiting on the 5000 waiting list."

First hug volunteers

"Volunteers must be over 25 years old, who must commit to receiving all vaccinations and volunteering at least twice a week for three hours in the morning. So it is not suitable for those who work full-time. We currently do not need volunteers because, as I mentioned, we have a waiting list of 5000 volunteers that we need to train. But we definitely need donations."

Shmulik Tanelder, a volunteer at the first hug • Watch

Anyone who has experienced motherhood understands the strengths

Dania Miara Lederer, 59 years old, resident of Haifa, mother of four, volunteers at the 'First Hug' association at Rambam Hospital in Haifa.

Dania: "I retired after 30 years of working as an advertising manager at the electric company, and I was looking for something to contribute and benefit. After many years of following the 'First Hug' association, I knew that this was my first choice and what I wanted to do. I contacted them and we have been walking together ever since."

Why a first hug?

"After raising four children myself, I thought that I had a lot to give to those abandoned babies and that this was really an area in which I could be useful, in such critical stages of life that don't really start well."

Tell us about your first day?

"In the first months I was part of a group that took care of a baby who was hospitalized for premature birth at Rambam. A baby girl who was very hurt. It's hard to explain the happiness that fills you when you realize how much those three hours, twice a week, when you come and take the baby out of the crib and talk to her and caress her and make sure she eats properly. It is something that anyone who has ever experienced motherhood understands its strengths, something that is hard to describe - great happiness."

On the one hand, you give love and warmth that gives you a feeling of satisfaction, but isn't it mixed with sadness when it comes to abandoned children?

"We have no control over the very abandonment. I think that precisely as bleak and cruel as the situation is, it gives a lot of strength to understand how necessary, important and critical your activity is. Otherwise, these babies will lie on their backs and stare at the sky, approach them twice a day, just to connect them for feeding .

Unlike the other babies around, whose parents arrive, there is no one to hug them, no one to touch them and sing to them and give them a kind word. When you sit for three hours with a baby like that in your arms, it gives tremendous strength. First of all, the baby itself - I don't need to explain the importance of hugs and warmth to a baby in the first stages of its life, there are doctors who will explain it better. The hug is something above and beyond anything that can be described."

When the child is in the hospital all the time

"Most of the babies I have come across have serious problems and their parents abandon them because they are unable to deal with the consequences. But it is important to note that the 'First Hug' association exists for such children, but we have another component that we are involved in and these are children who are in long-term hospitalization and then we go in to the picture to help the families and take some of the burden off them and allow them to breathe when the child is constantly in the hospitals.

For several months now I have been close to the baby girl who undergoes dialysis 4 times a week and I go in to allow the parents to evacuate and breathe air and also to be with the other children they have."

What message would you like to convey as a volunteer?

"When the corona problems are solved, I would like to focus on the field of recruiting mothers from Arab society, because there are quite a few toddlers from the sector who are in long-term hospitalization and I think that at the age of six months to two years, it is very important that those who are near them also speak their language with them and do not burden them with the need to understand another language.

I would really like to see volunteer mothers from the Arab society. This is really essential, and I feel that the association's activity is not sufficiently recognized in Arab society. I have no doubt that, like me, there are also people in Arab society who can give support to these toddlers."

Details for donations to the First Hug Association: