TWO LIVES SAVED: Israeli Doctors Save Mother from Stroke During Baby’s Delivery

As a pregnant woman suffered from a stroke in Jerusalem, doctors delivered the baby while saving the mother’s life.

By United with Israel Staff

This week, a Jerusalem woman in her ninth month of pregnancy found herself suddenly experiencing a stroke, a rare and dangerous situation that threatened the lives of mother and baby alike.

With both lives in danger, the woman was immediately rushed to Shaare Zedek Medical Center, a world-class hospital with some of the best doctors in the world.

The staff at Shaare Zedek immediately sprung to action, formulating a strategy to save the mother’s life and deliver the baby girl via a Caesarean section.

“The birth ended successfully and the baby was delivered safely,” said the mother in comments published by Times of Israel. While she asked not to be identified publicly, she added, “At the end of the operation, they put the baby on me for a short time, and tests and measurements came out normal.”

“There was a real sense of stress; after all we were responsible for not only one life but for two,” Dr. Roni Eichel, head of the neurology department, told Times of Israel. “Afterwards, the whole medical team was very emotional, and the next morning, when I came to the ICU and saw them, I felt a lot of joy.”

“The drama for the doctors of a pregnancy stroke patient is high,” said Eichel. “You want to do everything to save the patient, while also doing everything to save the baby. That’s not easy.”

The mother began experiencing the stroke in the middle of a presentation and an individual in the audience thankfully recognized the symptoms. That individual’s father had also recently suffered a stroke.

The Shaare Zedek team, which consisted of seven doctors, used CT scans to pinpoint the location of the stroke-inducing closed artery.

Ultimately, the doctors opted not to perform surgery, administering medication to address the neurological crisis so that the baby could be delivered.

While the doctors’ quick intervention appears to be the decisive factor in averting crisis, the medical team cited the audience member’s identification of stroke symptoms as saving the mother and baby’s lives.

The doctors stressed the importance of knowing the symptoms of stroke, which consist of “weakness in the limbs on one side of the body, difficulty speaking and facial deformity,” and the need to take immediate action to obtain medical attention for someone exhibiting these signs.