A MDA paramedic delivered her own baby at just 25 weeks and then used her MDA training to perform lifesaving CPR on him.
When Ayala Chaimson, a paramedic with Magen David Adom, unexpectedly went into labor, she was visiting her parents’ house with her four children.
At just 25 weeks pregnant, Ayala knew her due date was still months away and didn’t think twice when her husband, Chaim, flew to Europe for a brief trip. The only mystery surrounding the pregnancy would be whether they were having a boy or a girl, a secret they intended to keep until the baby was born.
“Everything happened incredibly quickly,” recalled Ayala. “The baby arrived after just two contractions. I screamed out to my parents and asked them to call MDA.”
Though the delivery itself was quick, the fight to save her newborn’s life felt like an eternity. “The baby emerged still enclosed in the amniotic sac, and I knew I needed to act urgently,” said Ayala.
Ayala ruptured the gestational sac to free her small baby who weighed less than two pounds at birth. She saw that he wasn’t crying, moving, or breathing, so she immediately began performing CPR. “In those moments, all I could see was my tiny baby lying there, and I knew I had to do everything possible to bring him back,” Ayala recalled.
When the MDA intensive care team arrived, there was still no heartbeat. They continued resuscitation efforts all the way to the hospital. Following approximately an hour of resuscitation attempts, the infant’s heart finally began beating again, and the baby was admitted to the NICU at the hospital.
Ayala and Chaim named their son Lavi, meaning “lion” in Hebrew. “Nobody believed our baby would make it, but through miracle after miracle, he fought through each day in the hospital,” Ayala said. “Chaim and I could see the determination and resilience in his eyes which is why we named him Lavi, because he fights with the heart of a lion.”
“I’m grateful to God for giving me the clarity and composure I needed in those critical moments,” reflected Ayala, “and for allowing me to draw on my training and experience as a MDA paramedic to save my child.”
