A Brit Milah that took place in Bat Yam recently became an even more emotional event after the mother of the baby and the baby himself nearly died during the delivery.
The story began a few weeks ago and involved a pregnant woman who was in serious condition after she suffered complications towards the end of her pregnancy. Rabbi Nir Dorfman who learns in a Kollel in Bat Yam and serves as a volunteer EMT with United Hatzalah responded to the emergency together with EMTs Hadass Rucham and Etti Salomon.
Due to a severe loss of blood, the woman was suffering from dangerously low blood pressure and was almost unconscious. The trio of responders provided the woman with emergency medical care that included administering intravenous fluid. The woman was then taken to the hospital in serious but stable condition.
Due to worries that the infant was lifeless, which would pose an immediate threat to the mother’s life as well, she was taken for an emergency cesarean operation and doctors performed the C-section to remove the infant.
The baby was born without any signs of life, but the doctors and nurses refused to give up and performed CPR on the newborn and succeeded in bringing back a pulse. Soon the baby began breathing.
“The doctors told the family, who then relayed to me, that retroactively, it became clear that what had saved the life of the mother was the fluids that I administered together with Hadass and Etti,” Dorfman said. “It was the first thing we did when we saw how much fluid she had lost and how low her blood pressure was.”.
Eight days after the drama in the hospital had ended and both the mother and the baby had recuperated, the family held the Brit Milah for the new baby in their home and invited Rabbi Dorfman, who also volunteers as a mohel for the Bris Yosef Yitzchak organization, to be the mohel for their son. The family expressed their sincerest gratitude to him and his fellow responders for their prompt assistance which saved the life of both the mother and child.
Dorfman concluded by saying, “In truth, I didn’t think that this story was going to end well. When the woman was transported to the hospital, there was a trail of blood leading from the apartment into the elevator and outside the door. When the ambulance pulled away, we stayed to clean it, and all three of us were sure that this story wouldn’t have a happy ending. When I received the phone call from the mother a few days later, telling me that I had saved her life and the life of her baby, I was ecstatic. I immediately called Etti and Hadass to tell them the good news and we were all overjoyed. Serving as the Mohel for the Brit of this baby was a true honor and something which I will never forget.”
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