By Raphael Poch
JERUSALEM — Eran Moshe, a volunteer EMT delivered his own daughter on Wednesday morning, April 19, at his home in Netivot. Being a volunteer ambucycle driver with United Hatzalah, Eran is no stranger to medical emergencies.
At approximately 2 am on Wednesday morning Eran’s wife, Bat-El, woke up and told Eran that she felt that she was going to give birth quickly, in spite of her due-date still being a few days off.
Eran began to prepare the car for a trip to the hospital. During the preparation Bat-El told Eran that she wasn’t going to make it to the hospital. Eran, relying on his knowledge as an EMT delivered the baby before the ambulance could arrive at the scene.
Eran said after the event “We had no idea that the birth was going to happen that night. We had no warning signs. I was supposed to be on a school trip with one of my other children, luckily the trip was cancelled at the last minute.”
Eran recounted the excitement of the moment of delivering his own child. “I began preparing the car to take my wife to the hospital. At some point we realized that we weren’t going to make it in time. I called for an ambulance and then put all of my energy into helping my wife give birth. By the time the medics got here the only thing left to do was cut the umbilical cord. I am ecstatic that I was there and able to bring my sixth child into the world, healthy and whole.”
Before the ambulance team was able to respond Eran brought his wife into his bedroom and delivered the baby himself. Emergency medical teams arrived after the birthing was almost complete and were present to cut the umbilical cord after the baby had been delivered. The baby and his mother were then transferred to Barzilai medical center in Ashkelon.
Eran and his wife are proud parents to their sixth child, a beautiful and healthy baby girl.
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Poch is the international media spokesperson for United Hatzalah