A Baby Story

This post is about all things woman in Israel, since international woman’s day was last week and I am entering my OB (Women’s Health) clinical rotation this week. I have learned a lot of new and fun facts about women’s health in Israel.

Most of our OB Professors are midwives who got their PhDs in the U.S. and had either already lived in Israel before and moved back after finishing school, or made Aliyah (the process of moving permanently to Israel if you are Jewish). Our lectures this week have been a lot of birth videos, reading books, and baby talks. A crowd pleaser was called “The Dance of Birth”.

Some fun facts about Israeli/Jewish law and Women’s Health (according to my professors):

•  In certain Jewish Orthodox communities all teenagers are tested for carrying certain deadly diseases like Tay-Sachs Disease, Caravan Disease, Cystic Fibrosis, etc., they are given a blood identification number, and before they even go on a date with someone they contact the screening center and give their blood identification numbers. If both are carriers for a disease, the screening center will tell them they are not compatible. The screening center won’t release which person is a carrier, or what diseases they carry for. This is an especially common practice in communities where matchmaking in prominent. It is illegal to donate eggs in Israel, it is however legal to donate sperm. In Orthodox Judaism, religion comes through your mother. This means that if your mother is Jewish then you are Jewish.
•  Abortion is legal throughout a pregnancy, but before an abortion is performed it must be okayed through an ethics committee.
•  The national health Insurance covers IVF (In vitro Fertilization) for up to two children. According to Jewish law, every woman has the right/it’s a commandment to have at least two children

In Israel, a constitution was never created when Israel was declared a state. There are a lot of laws pertaining to healthcare, but the former British Medical system is still implemented here (The British Mandate was between 1917-1948). Like most of the world, Israel mainly only uses midwives in childbirth (unless there is a high risk pregnancy, a cesarean section, etc.). It is interesting the difference between how midwives in the States are viewed versus everywhere else in the world. Most women are delivered by a midwife outside of the U.S. and midwifery seems like a normal profession. In the states I get the feeling that midwives are perceived as “hippies,” “crunchy”, or “granola”.  I want to understand why that stereotype stands.  After this semester I should have the feeling if I want to go into women’s health after I graduate or not. So far I think it is really cool. What can I say? I haven’t even seen “The Business of Being Born” yet.

Another fun fact: The Red Cross in Predominantly Muslim countries is called The Red Crescent”. Isn’t that cool?