בנשמה

First, I want to thank Rachel Raice, registered nurse and doula whom without her, my birth experience in Israel wouldn't be the same. As suspected, the process here is completely different. Women are asked during tight contractions for medical record history, whereabouts, etc and Rachel knew the ropes, how to advocate for me and make sure what ended up being a very quick delivery, that it go well (going from 4 cm to 8 cm in five minutes and then pushing a human out 9 minutes later is traumatic and takes a tremendous amount of skill). We avoided oxygen and laughing gas - - things that made the process more natural and bearable (there was no time for an epidural even though I asked for one, or time to labor in a tub. It was that quick). I was right that my head wouldn't be able to think and answer in Hebrew, though the staff appreciated that I knew both languages. Rachel went above and beyond, caring for my emotional state of mind a