The First Birth in on Duty – His Own Baby:
An MDA EMT delivers his own baby in the middle of his shift
EMT Abraham Ivri started working at MDA about a month ago. His wife Reut, who had just entered her ninth month of pregnancy, feared that on the day of her birth - her husband would be on duty * on Saturday night about a week ago she went into labor , her fears come true as her husband was on shift * In a race against the clock Abraham arrived on time to deliver his 6th daughter * This was the first birth Abraham performed as an EMT with MDA
On Saturday afternoon about a week ago, when Abraham Ivri, a resident of Shadmot Mehola, was on duty as an MDA EMT in the Gilboa region - he did not imagine that his shift would end with the birth of his sixth daughter.
Abraham immediately called MDA to dispatch the ambulance crew closest to their home and senior EMT MDA volunteer, Mati Karmi and Orit Ohana, an MDA volunteer paramedic and family friend, were called. The team arrived at Reut's home and after an initial assessment, began evacuating her to the hospital. During this, Abraham was working feverishly to find a replacement for his shift so he would arrive in time for the birth.
After a few minutes, Abraham left the shift thanks to a replacement he found - and hurried to the hospital, where along the way he was updated by Orit, who in the meantime continued to provide medical treatment to Reut. Moments before arriving at the hospital, the birth began to reach its crucial stages and the ambulance was forced to stop at the side of the road. Moments later, the birth began. Just at that time - Abraham arrived and jumped in to the ambulance, in perfect timing to assist his wife.
About the dramatic moments, Orit Ohana, an MDA paramedic in the Gilboa region, said: "Recently, Abraham talked a lot about the fact that he is afraid of missing the birth, because of the shifts. That evening he called me and told me it was happening and asked me to hurry to Reut. We were in touch with him throughout the trip, we wanted him to be a partner in the process and to our delight he arrived at just the right time and just jumped into the ambulance when the active birthing process began. He functioned at that moment as an EMT and as a husband - who on the one hand takes care of the medical aspects and on the other hand encourages and embraces. He was very excited and we were all happy that Abraham was the one who assisted his wife and that he managed to arrive on time. "
Regarding the timing, the stress and the happy ending, the excited father recalled: "I have been on maternity alert for two weeks now and trying to calculate the shifts and I am always attached to my phone. This week it happened, and I immediately spoke to MDA and Orit to help my wife. I was able to quickly find a replacement at work and drove to the hospital, intending to arrive even before the birth. Happily, I arrived just as the girl was starting out, and I actually did my first birth in the organization - when the woman giving birth was my wife. It was stressful and exciting together - both because it was a first birth, medically I wanted to make sure everything was going as well as possible, and also because it was my baby. Mixed emotions. I experienced the event in an extraordinary way - both as an EMT and as a father. Orit managed to take care of me and my wife and managed the event very professionally. From the day my wife found out she was pregnant, our sons laughed and raised the possibility that I would just be on duty. "When they entered the maternity ward at the hospital, and I was in an MDA uniform - the nurses did not understand why I entered the room. It took them a while to understand that I was also the father and the EMT who delivered the baby."
