The first mother for the year 5781 gave birth in the maternity ward of Padeh-Poriya Medical Center just south of T’veria. She is Yifah Neilinger, and has been working for three years as a nurse in the cardiac intensive care unit of the same hospital.
The midwife, Nidal Khatib, said that Yifah arrived with her husband Dubi at the delivery room on Friday at 4:20 PM and by 7:05 PM gave birth to a healthy baby boy weighing 2.9 kg (6.39 lbs.).
The newborn is the couple’s fourth (which in Israel is the average in many families). A brother and two sisters are waiting for him at home, and all of them were born in the maternity ward in Padeh-Poriya.
Yifah said she was only due to give birth in a week but was happy about the gift and the surprise her family received for the new year.
“I’m feeling good, I had a great birth experience,” she said. “Thank you to the whole staff who accompanied me.”
According to Meirav Meir, the nurse in charge of the delivery room at Padeh-Poriya, the holiday was happy and fruitful in her delivery room, with a total of 18 births recorded, 11 boys including a pair of twins, and 7 girls.