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Israeli medic worried about missing daughter’s birth ends up delivering her

Like many deliveries, this one didn’t go according to plan.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

A Magen David Adom paramedic delivered his own daughter during his shift on Tuesday, reported Ynet.

Avi Ivri, who only started working at MDA last month, had a plan for the birth of his sixth child with his wife Reut. The couple agreed that Avi would take time off when they expected Reut would go into labor, so he wouldn’t miss the birth of their daughter.

But, like many deliveries, this one didn’t go according to plan.

While Ivri was on duty, his wife called, telling him she was in labor and urgently needed an ambulance. Ivri immediately called the MDA hotline and sent an ambulance to his home, which picked up his wife and headed towards HaEmek Hospital in Afula. Meanwhile, Ivri followed the ambulance in his car.

A few miles away from the hospital, it became clear that there wouldn’t be enough time to make it to the delivery room. Parking on the side of the road, Ivri joined his wife inside the ambulance and delivered his daughter, Anael.

“It was my first delivery and I experienced the event in an extraordinary way, both as a medic and as a father,” Ivri told Ynet.

“My wife and I joked with each other about the possibility that I would be on duty during the birth, and that’s what happened in the end.”

The unique delivery comes amid a baby boom for MDA paramedics – last week, MDA worker Daniel Yassu delivered two babies in a four-hour span.

Both of the mothers were Netanya residents who gave birth in MDA ambulances on the way to Laniado Hospital.

Yassu, who has worked as an MDA paramedic and ambulance driver for the last three years, had never delivered a baby before last Tuesday.

He told Israel’s Channel 20 News, “I waited for this moment for three years. During the MDA medic course, I learned how to deliver babies but I was a little nervous about the first delivery I’d help with.”

“During the first birth, I was a little stressed and tense. By the second birth, I was already more experienced and relaxed. Now I’m looking forward to the next time. “