(Haipo) – An emergency medical technician at MDA's 101 hotline, Rinat Ben David, helped three women deliver their babies over the phone during one night shift. The shift began last night at 23:00 PM, the eve of the anniversary of the October 7th events, and became a shift she will never forget.
A shift that began with heavy emotions and turned into an exciting experience
Rinat Ben David went to work at MDA's 101 emergency call center with mixed emotions. "I left home yesterday with heavy emotions. October 7, 2023 was not easy for any of us," Rinat said. She described how about three years ago she was on maternity leave with her eldest son Noam, but was rushed to the MDA call center on October 7 to strengthen her strength. Her husband Eliyahu, also an emergency medical technician and ambulance driver at MDA, went out to treat the wounded in the field under fire, and she found herself rushing him to security incidents while deeply concerned. Before starting her shift, she raised her eyes to the sky and prayed: "O God, make it so that on this October 7, I will do good and help make people happy."
First birth: A baby girl was born in a car on the way from Marzim to the hospital
About 42 minutes after midnight, Rinat received a call on the 101 emergency line. On the other end of the line was a senior paramedic and MDA volunteer, Avraham Roth, who reported that his 33-year-old wife Noa was kneeling in labor in their car on the way from the Rechsim local council, where they live, to the hospital. Rinat dispatched MDA teams to the scene and helped Avraham deliver the baby by phone. Their daughter was born healthy during the phone call.
The second birth: telephone guidance for a husband in the south of the country
About an hour and a half later, at 02:01 AM, Rinat received another phone call from the husband of Bayan, 27, who was about to give birth at their home in the south of the country. Rinat realized that the birth was approaching and instructed her husband on what to do, while the MDA teams she had dispatched made their way to the scene. Patiently and gently, she worked step by step with her husband to receive the birth correctly. After a few moments, a baby's cry could be heard in her headphones, and her smile returned.
The third birth: another baby in Beit Shemesh
At 03:11 a.m., Rinat answered another call on the 101 emergency line, this time about a 32-year-old woman in advanced pregnancy who was experiencing frequent contractions at her home in Beit Shemesh. Within the first few minutes of the call, the baby emerged, and Rinat instructed the husband on how to act until MDA teams arrived and evacuated the woman and her son to the hospital. "I had the privilege of helping to bring three pure and sweet souls into the world and to spread light on this painful day," Rinat concluded. "For me, these births are our victory – our people have gone through many difficult things, but we will never stop rejoicing and being happy. For me, it is a closing of a circle that I am privileged to close on this date three years later."
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