My name is Yaffa Goldschmiedt and I am a member of United Hatzalah’s Women’s Unit. One recent morning I was sitting down to have my morning coffee it was my minute to unwind without children without work, just a few minutes for me. I was at my home in Jerusalem and during that moment I got an emergency alert on my phone from the women’s unit notifying me that there was a woman in active labor one street away from my house.

I put my coffee down, headed out and arrived at the home of the new mother to be. As I arrived a medical team was already there but when they saw me the paramedic made way for me and said: “Terrific, a woman is here. A woman should be the one to help another woman in labor.”   

 

I approached the patient and she was so thankful to have me in the room with her and be the one to help her deliver her baby. I helped her deliver her newborn baby boy and thankfully the birth took place without any complications. I have been at a number of births and each one is special, but this one was extra special because the mother was so thankful for having me there and having the extra comfort of a woman by her side during the time when she is most vulnerable and exposed.

 

While this birth wasn’t filled with drama, it was filled with happiness and joy as almost all successful births are. That joy is something shared by the medical teams that assist in these situations and it was something that I felt. No matter who you are it is almost impossible to not be affected by the sound of a new baby being brought into the world, thankfully that is something that I get to experience on a regular basis.

 

When I got back home after the woman and her new son were on their way to the hospital for further care and observation, I got back to coffee and I drank it cold. As I did so I reflected on the fact that it is so important for us to have women helping women in cases of births or God forbid miscarriages. This is how it has always been. This is how it was in the times of the Torah and Nevi’im, and this is how it should be. Our women’s unit is continuing the miracles that the midwives of old carried out before us.  

 

To support the work of United Hatzalah click here: