A Bris Milah that took place in Bat Yam recently was nothing short of miraculous, after the mother and the baby nearly died in the delivery.
The story began a few weeks ago and involved a pregnant woman who was in serious condition after she suffered complications towards the end of her pregnancy. Rabbi Nir Dorfman, a student in a Bat Yam Kollel who serves as a volunteer EMT with United Hatzalah, responded to the emergency together with EMTs Hadass Rucham and Etti Salomon.
The woman was suffering from dangerously low blood pressure due to a severe loss of blood and was almost unconscious. The three responders provided her with emergency medical care that included administering intravenous fluids. The woman was then taken to the hospital in serious but stable condition.
At the hospitals, the doctors were concerned that the infant was lifeless, posing an immediate threat to the mother’s life as well, she was taken for an emergency cesarean operation. The baby was born without any signs of life, but the doctors and nurses refused to give up and performed CPR on the newborn, finally succeeding in bringing back a pulse. Soon the baby began breathing.
“The doctors told the family that in hindsight it became clear that what had saved the life of the mother was the fluids that I administered together with Hadass and Etti,” Dorfman said. “It was the first thing we did when we saw how much fluid she had lost and how low her blood pressure was.”
Eight days after the drama had ended and both mother and baby recuperated, the grateful family, which held the Bris Milah of the newborn child in their home, invited Rabbi Dorfman—who also volunteers as a mohel (ritual circumciser) for the Bris Yosef Yitzchak organization—to circumcise their son.
Dorfman related: “In truth, I didn’t think that this story was going to end well. When the woman was transported to the hospital, there was a trail of blood leading from the apartment into the elevator and outside the door. When the ambulance pulled away, we stayed to clean up, and all three of us were sure that this story wasn’t having a happy ending. When I received the phone call from the mother a few days later, telling me that I had saved her life and the life of her baby, I was ecstatic. I immediately called Etti and Hadass to tell them the good news and we were all overjoyed. Serving as the Mohel for the Bris of this baby was something I will never forget.”