Haitian Mother Gives Birth To Baby Israel In An IDF Hospital

Justin Cohen - Thursday 21st January 2010


Baby Israel born in an IDF hospital in Haiti

In a Country ravaged by death and destruction on an unimaginable scale, a field hospital erected by the Israel Defence Forces in a football field provides the unlikely backdrop for a rare moment of joy and hope, writes Justin Cohen.

As the gravely injured are treated just metres away, a young mother in her twenties spends her first precious moments with her newborn son - later named Israel - delivered just moments earlier with the help of a team of Israeli doctors. The medics were part of an IDF delegation rushed to Haiti in the wake of last Tuesday's devastating earthquake.

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Major Dr Shir Dor, who helped deliver the child, said: "The baby is cute and healthy and the mother is really happy."

However, this joyous moment was in stark contrast to the scenes of human misery and desperation that continue to dominate life in the stricken Caribbean state, 10 days after an earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale.

More than 200,000 people are so far feared to have lost their lives and an estimated 1.5 million are homeless.

Numerous countries have answered the call for global aid, with Israel sending a delegation of 220 experts to help with the emergency relief effort.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was "our obligation, as the state of Israel and the Jewish people, to mobilise immediately - and this we have done".

The IDF field hospital is currently the most advanced medical facility in the
region, with intensive care units and operating rooms, as well as more than 40 doctors and specialists. An estimated 100 surgeries have so far been performed on survivors of the earthquake and seven children, including baby Israel, have been delivered.

The United Nations has sent doctors and nurses from other countries to support Israeli medical staff, including 10 British volunteers. The IDF confirmed last night that the field hospital was not damaged by the significant aftershock that hit the country and pledged to remain in Haiti for a minimum of two weeks as planned.

Magen David Adom has also set up a field hospital manned by six specialist aid workers.

On Monday night an IDF team helped rescue two women from the rubble at Port-au-Prince university.

The Israeli search and rescue team, led by Colonel Deddi Simchi, pulled the two students from the ruins of a collapsed building. Rescue forces gave the women initial medical care and one of them was transferred to the IDF field hospital for further attention.

Meanwhile, a team from ZAKA helped retrieve eight students from the rubble of a collapsed eight-storey building.

Mati Goldstein, head of ZAKA's international rescue unit delegation, sent a harrowing email from the country to his colleagues. He wrote: "Shabbat from hell. Everywhere, the acrid smell of bodies hangs in the air. Thousands of bodies everywhere.

"You have to understand that the situation is true madness, and the more time passes there are more and more bodies, in numbers that cannot be grasped. It is beyond comprehension."

Rabbi Shimon Perlman, director of Chabad Lubavitch of the Dominican Republic, is also in the country to offer support to those affected by the disaster.
He told the Jewish News: "We distributed a truck load of food to locals in Port-au-Prince who were in desperate need.

"We found a number of people who were homebound and brought them supplies, including a mother of five who lost her husand and had seen her entire home destroyed, aside from one room where her whole family now lives. More supplies, organised by Chabad, will arrive over the next few days."

He added: "Much of the city is in chaos, with people walking around in shock and disbelief. There is a heightened sense of tension in the air as people are beginning to get desperate as not a lot of aid has actually made it through to those in need."

Rabbi Perlman also confirmed that the 25 Israelis living in the country were all safe.

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