Sarah Babian has been working as a Midwife at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem for eight years, but today she experienced a birth like no other.

At the end of her most recent shift in the delivery room, towards midnight, she left the hospital and was walking through the parking lot to her car. She noticed a pregnant woman kneeling down to give birth by a taxi. Sarah didn’t hesitate for a moment, and immediately rushed to the woman’s aid.

Sarah explains that the woman was 30 years old, a resident of Jerusalem, and in her 40th week of pregnancy, suffering from contractions for a short time. The Emergency Room staff came to the parking lot, and helped transfer her to the trauma room at the hospital.

“It was very lucky the woman was able to reach a suitable birthing environment, because the baby’s umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck.”

The birth happened five minutes from the moment the woman arrived in the parking lot. The skilled and experience team at Shaare Zedek performed necessary tests on the mother and baby. The baby boy, Shalom, is healthy, and was born weighing 2,800 kg.

Upon recovering, the mother explained that “there was a traffic jam that delayed my arrival to the hospital, and I almost gave birth in a taxi. I was very afraid…Sarah arrived at just the right time, and accompanied me all the way, and stayed for me. I really thank her and the wonderful staff of the hospital that treated me and the baby so kindly and professionally.”