Quick-Thinking Israeli Midwife Saves Mother and Baby

Rachel Yehurun was recently accompanying a woman in labor at the Ziv Medical Center in Safed when she noticed that the height of the newborn’s head went up instead of down.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

A mother and baby boy were able to be discharged from an Israeli hospital in good health on Monday after a quick-thinking midwife saved their lives during the birth.

Rachel Yehurun, a nurse midwife was recently accompanying a woman in labor at the Ziv Medical Center in Safed when she noticed that the height of the newborn’s head went up instead of down.

The woman was not in distress, had no known risk factors, and previously had two natural births without any complications, but Yeshurun suspected that the uterus had ruptured.

Yeshurun, who has been working at Ziv for six years, quickly took the woman to an operating room, where doctors diagnosed a complete rupture of the uterus. They also found the placenta completely separated in the upper abdomen.

The staff delivered a baby boy who was transferred to the center’s neonatal intensive care unit.

Later on, a senior team of doctors led by the Dr. Inbar Ben-Shahar, director of the hospital’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, managed to reconstruct the mother’s uterus in a long and complex operation.

Dr. Ben-Shahar said a ruptured uterus can cause severe, and even fatal bleeding in the mother. Moreover, it can also leave the baby without oxygen, posing a danger of brain damage or suffocation.

Said Yeshurun, “I see my work as a mission and a great privilege. Thank you all for being able to take care and save lives here as well. Indeed, this is an exceptional case, but thanks to our excellent teams, we also met this challenge. I wish the mother and the baby to grow up comfortably and in perfect health.”