A trip to the hospital to give birth turned into an extraordinary roadside delivery when Tziporah Malul went into active labor while her husband, Idan, was driving her to the hospital. The expectant couple from Lod found themselves stranded on the highway as Tziporah’s contractions intensified rapidly.
Idan called Magen David Adom’s emergency hotline and a dispatcher guided them to stop alongside the road while simultaneously sending a Mobile Intensive Care Unit (MICU) to their location. “I didn’t think my labor would progress so quickly. When we reached the highway, we just had to stop,” Tziporah recounted of the sudden turn of events.
Within a few minutes, the MDA team arrived, led by paramedic Lihi Golan. The intensive care ambulance was already prepared, the birth equipment laid out. The medics conducted a medical examination and helped Tziporah safely deliver a healthy baby boy right in the MICU.
Despite what may seem like an unpleasant birth to some, the new mother has a remarkably positive perspective. “Everyone thinks I had a stressful delivery, but I tell them it was actually amazing for me,” Tziporah shared. “It was truly an incredible experience. All the medics on the MDA team were simply champions and functioned calmly in a complicated situation. It’s important for me to acknowledge them.”
“There was tremendous excitement in the ambulance,” said EMT Lior Paz. “I don’t get to deliver a baby every day.”
Paz continued, “after a difficult summer, it’s very moving to help bring new life into the world.”
