may have one less worry as Magen David Adom (MDA) and the Israel Midwives Organization (IMO) have started a new project to assist women in labor in northern communities under Hezbollah fire, the organizations announced. The project, named the "First Contractions" project, aims to ensure that can safely deliver if they are prevented from reaching a delivery room in time. The project was funded by the Jewish Federations of North America.
In 2023, 16,283 pregnant women were evacuated to hospitals but a significant number of the women, 1,062, in their homes or on their way to the hospital. While these women received emergency treatment by MDA respondents, Out-Of-Hospital (OOH) births can be both stressful and carry risks. For the first nine months since October 7, MDA teams evacuated a total of 359 women in labor from the Western and Northern Galilee, and the Golan Heights.
Recognizing the increased risk expectant mothers faced, especially knowing that rocket attacks could impair their ability to travel to a hospital, IMO and MDA embarked on this new project. First Contractions will focus on northern Israel at first, in light of the security situation there, but is expected to expand throughout the country. IMO and MDA are mapping all northern communities where there are pregnant women, from the Golan Heights all the way to Nahariya, in order to connect midwifery participants and pregnant women.
This will allow midwives to be made aware in advance of the location of expectant mot.
