Sarah Seymour Private Midwife, Kokhav Hashahar (2025)

07/11/2024

Being a homebirth midwife and making a wedding is a combination that doesn’t mesh so well together!

We picked a wedding date for my son Bentzion and Leighelle, according to availability of halls (there weren’t so many options in the area we were looking at).

I already had two births booked with due dates in that week, one a repeat client, the other a sister of a previous client. So I informed them either they could switch to a different midwife, or they might need to birth with a backup midwife around the wedding day and for the Shabbat Sheva Brachot when I was hosting lots of guests.

There were other celebratory and important events surrounding the wedding; a call up to the Torah with a big community kiddush, a last family shabbat before the wedding, important meetings, getting my nails done the day before the wedding, plus two other Sheva brachot in the evenings which we were invited to.

I didn’t want to miss any of these, but didn’t feel right getting backup for everything, so I prayed I got to do everything and not miss any important stuff. (I missed something).

All the plans were being made and meanwhile two other ladies called me and asked me to attend their births, also with due dates right around the time of the wedding.

One was literally my neighbor, a 1 minute walk across the road. So of course I was going to take her on! The other was a daughter of a friend who also lives nearby and I wanted to work with her too.

So I ended up with 4 clients due the week of the wedding!! A challenging scenario to say the least!!

I arranged various backup midwives - each woman was in a different area and needed a different backup, it was quite a process. I sent them all the back up’s numbers and I sent the midwives the client details and medical histories and reminders of their backup duties nearer the time.

It was a lot of work. But it was needed for everyone’s peace of mind.

So this is how it played out…

One gave birth during chol hamoed, about 5 days before the wedding. For that birth, I missed a friend’s get together, but no biggie. (I’m used to a certain level of social disappointment).

Two days after the wedding, two clients gave birth on the same day. One in the morning and one in the evening. That was nice, I didn’t miss a night’s sleep.

And the fourth one started with mild contractions during the Shabbat Sheva Brachot, but held on until after shabbat and she gave birth that evening with me.

So it all worked out really well! It was a little hectic getting to all the postnatal checkups and following up on all the babies, but the mum’s gave me grace and we got through. Everyone was well and happy.

Now I need a well earned break!! 😅

04/09/2024

Tzippy’s Second Birth Story

(It’s been a while since I posted a story. I hope you enjoy it! Please comment if you have what to add ☺️)

Tzippy had her first baby in my Birth Centre. She lives too far away for me to travel to her, so she decided to come to me. The birth had gone well and we bonded closely during our care period together. I understood her fears of conventional medicine and how much she wanted to stay away from all of that during her births.

She became pregnant again 4 months after her first baby and wanted another birth with me at the Birth Centre. Unfortunately, I had recently shut it’s doors due to personal reasons, so we planned the birth for somewhere midway. In Bet Shemesh there is a tzimmer that can be rented for births, so she booked in there.

Tzippy is a very driven women with clear goals of what she wants in life. When the war broke out in Israel, she immediately got called up for reserve duty (in a non-combat role) and stayed away from home throughout most of the rest of her pregnancy. This made it very challenging for us to have meetings, as she didn’t have privacy or good phone reception much of the time. But we managed to get through the basics and Tzippy did her check-ups with her doctor and all was well. However, she didn’t ever had any spare time and planning for the birth kept taking a back seat. As the birth approached, I wondered how things would pan out.

Tzippy went into labour a few days after her due date and she was still not ready. Her labour started pretty calmly late at night and Tzippy finally understood that she had better pack her things for her birth and recovery at the tzimmer. She told me to take a short nap while she was getting organized. Shortly after I got a call, that her contractions had ramped up significantly and that she was heading out really soon to the tzimmer. I quickly got dressed and put my stuff in the car, I was on my way.

Soon after I got a panicked call from Tzippy’s husband. He told me that Tzippy’s contractions were really strong and they were still 20 minutes away from their destination. As we were having this conversation, I just knew Tzippy was having a precipitous birth (defined as less than 3 hours from start to end) and that she wouldn’t make it in time. And neither would I. Then I heard Tzippy shout that her waters had broken. I was zooming along in the dead of night, trying to get to them as quickly as possible, whilst at the same time, calming down the father’s panicked shouts and trying to help Tzippy deal with what was happening.

I told them to pull over to the side of the road and call an ambulance.

Giving birth in a car alone is not the safest of endeavors. However, Tzippy was having none of that! She absolutely refused to have an ambulance crew attend her birth and she shouted down the line, “we are carrying on to the tzimmer, no matter what”. There ensued a bit of an argument between her and her husband who was understandably very anxious at this point! Tzippy was having none of it!! Like I said, she’s a very self-assured woman and knew exactly what she needed.

I stayed on the line, all the while giving support. After another short while Tzippy said, “I need to push, but I’m holding it back”. I told her, that they must pull over for safety, and that her husband should grab a blanket from the trunk, and she should let her baby be born, and that he’ll be fine.

They followed my instructions but after that all I could hear was Tzippy’s husband shouting “NO, NO, NO” . He is seriously the squeamish type and was very distressed by the idea of his baby being born in his car. I tried calming him down over the phone whilst also encouraging Tzippy. It wasn’t long until I heard a baby crying. I had a quick check in with Tzippy who was exhilarated, overwhelmed and barely communicative, but managed to express that all seemed well. She covered her baby with the blanket and they continued on to the tzimmer. I was a few minutes behind them and pulled up my car nearby and grabbed a pair of gloves and some chux pads.

But before anything, I congratulated them on the birth of their new baby who was doing just great in Tzippy’s arms, and I snapped a few photos on my phone for them to have as a souvenir of this momentous occasion! Because the birth had been so fast, we hadn’t called the doula to help as I knew she wouldn’t get there in time, so I just handled everything on my own.

Luckily it was the middle of the night and there were no gawking neighbours to see the sight of Tzippy, drying blood all down her legs and into her shoes, hobbling into the tzimmer!

I got her settled, delivered the placenta and cleaned her up, Dad went off to buy himself a coffee and to decompress! And Tzippy got to enjoy her new baby in a calm and non-pressured environment, exactly as she wanted.

I stayed a while, we shmoozed and reflected on the past couple of hours. Tzippy didn’t regret at all the decisions she made during her journey or in deciding to birth at the tzimmer. She had found the experience very powerful, especially when she realized that she shouldn’t hold back, but should allow her baby to be born and take responsibility of taking care of the immediate needs of her newborn. Her husband was not as enthusiastic as she was and was quite traumatized, but once he saw that all was well, he took it in his stride and didn’t argue with the freshly delivered mother.

Tzippy’s birth was very positive. Her baby was healthy, she didn’t bleed significantly and she didn’t tear. She was happy with her birth.

Some would say that she was irresponsible, birthing alone in a car and I hear that. If something had gone wrong, it could have been disastrous. However, women having surprise fast births have been managing since time immemorial. We regularly hear stories of women birthing in the bathroom by accident and calling for an ambulance as they got caught by surprise. If the mother and baby are healthy during pregnancy, the vast majority of the time, all goes well. It is also amazing how the motherly instincts kick in and she naturally knows what to do, just like any other mammal giving birth.

Personally, I do not condone planned unassisted births. Midwives have always been a part of birth since records began and it is certainly safer to deliver with a midwife. However, if baby is coming really quickly and the midwife hasn’t arrived yet, I radiate calm as fast births are normally trouble-free and I trust the mother and baby to do what they need to do. I remain on the phone to give encouragement and advice and I usually reach them within minutes.

Once I arrive, I can calmly assess the situation and give whatever help is needed in a gentle manner in order not to disrupt the new mother-baby dyad. The important element here is to be peaceful and gentle. There’s no need to rush in, in a big panic (like unfortunately most paramedics do). If I see mum smiling and holding her baby, then I know there is no imminent danger. The first thing to do is to smile and offer my congratulations and do a visual assessment of the baby without disturbing anyone. Only then down to business of delivering the placenta and cleaning up.

Mazal Tov to Tzippy !!
Photo Credit: Dani Sarusi

18/06/2024

Recording a podcast episode With Lauren Allen host of the Podcast 'About Health and Hormones'. Coming to you this summer.
I talked about Homebirth of course and the Diaphragm.
Was great chatting with you Lauren 😍

07/04/2024

New birth story!!
First time mum delivered safely at home and avoided a whole knows what at hospital 😅

Shoshana’s Story
Shoshana is a lovely women in her later 30’s who came to me whilst expecting her first baby. She had been through multiple miscarriages previously, but this little baby was sticking around and she wanted to plan for a homebirth.
Being in the medical field herself, Shoshana knew what the hospital system was like and she did not desire to attend a hospital for her birth. She also suffered from various long term health conditions and had experienced a number of surgeries which had left her with a bad taste for hospital care.
Her health factors did not detract from her ability to have a safe homebirth. So, we planned for the best but knew that if complications arose, she would have to accept a hospital birth as the safer option.
Shoshana’s birth started with a questionable waters breaking on Shabbat afternoon with minimal contractions. Straight after shabbat ended, I headed over to her home. I assessed Shoshana and her baby and after examining all the factors, determined that her waters had not in fact broken.
Shoshana was feeling mild infrequent contractions so I gave Shoshana and her husband, Daniel, some exercises to do to help things pick up. In addition, I encouraged them to make sure they got some rest in bed so they would have energy for when the real deal came along.
I headed off to sleep nearby with instructions to call me when her labor picked up.
I think I maybe slept half an hour when the phone rang… the exercises had clearly done their job! Contractions were every three minutes, strong and long. It was shortly after midnight.
Shoshana labored intensely throughout the night, supported by her dedicated husband Daniel, her doula and me. It was rough, but Shoshana is a tough cookie and she rode it out. We made sure to keep Shoshana hydrated and fed, despite her vomiting once in a while (which can happen in intense labor). Shoshana was mostly in the birth pool which she found to be incredibly helpful for coping with the pain.
The baby did a marvelous job too. Her heart rate was perfect throughout the labor and I had no concerns there at all.
By 8:00 am Shoshana’s cervix was fully dilated. The baby’s head had been so low in the pelvis throughout labor that I felt that pushing would go quite quickly. I called the second midwife to attend, but I had doubts if she would make it in time.
At first, as is usual in a non-medicalized birth, I encouraged Shoshana to breathe through contractions, allowing the uterus to do the work of bringing baby lower with each surge. After an hour of this, I saw that there hadn’t been much, if any, progress. If the breathing the baby down method is not being effective, then it is unwise to continue in this manner for too long as it can take all day. We needed to be more pro-active. So, Shoshana started pushing with her natural cues during each contraction. Unfortunately, after an hour of this, we weren’t seeing much progress either, so we decided to up her efforts to the next level. The goal was to get the baby born at home, before the baby or mother got too tired.
Shoshana got out of the pool so I could help her better push her baby out. We were all so surprised that she had to push so hard and for so long. Her baby was small and in a good position. But birth often surprises us and we just needed to keep going until we started to see progress. Shoshana was determined to give birth to her baby at home as long as they were both ok. It took two more hours of hard work with frequent position changes and lots of encouragement, but Shoshana’s baby finally emerged to everyone’s relief.
It was a truly empowering experience. We were all exhausted, having been up all night and we were so thankful that we had at long last reached the finale! The last 20 minutes saw some drops in the baby’s heart rate as she went through the final squeeze, but she came out with a loud scream and perfect APGARS showing that she had not been suffering from any fetal distress.
Shoshana was beyond delighted, she felt that her birth was well handled at home and if she’d been in a hospital she might have been pressured into a c-section but at the very least she would have had a vacuum delivery with its mandatory episiotomy. Shoshana did not require stitches and she healed up well.
In Shoshana’s own words “(Sarah) made what would have otherwise been a traumatic hospital birth a beautiful experience that allowed us to be comfortable and safe at home. Thankyou a million times over…. “
Sometimes I feel that the first births are too much for me, physically. It’s hours and hours of hard work without a break and I usually miss a night’s sleep. But then I understand what I have helped accomplish, and I know that the hard work and sacrifice is so worth it! I continue to take first time mothers, but really try to limit it to one per month. This way I can still do a lot of good, but I also save myself from becoming burnt out.

19/03/2024

I live in Yehudah Ve'Shomron, in what might be considered the Bible Belt of Israel. I have been resisting forever, but since October 7th 2023, it seems reckless for me not to carry a personal firearm.
You see, the roads I drive on, to and from births, often at night and often deserted, can be dangerous and terrorist attacks on Israeli drivers are certainly not unheard of. I don't know if the incidence of attacks has increased since October 7th, but a level of security was breached that made us all feel far more vulnerable to Arab terrorism.
Having a gun may just save mine or someone else's life one day but I hope I never have to use it. So, I went ahead and applied for my gun license.
Yesterday, after receiving my provisional licence from the Government, I attended a shooting range for the first time in my life and took a course for first time gun toters.
I did not enjoy it, but I actually hit the target very well.
I definitely need more practice to be proficient and be able to defend myself and others in different scenarios. So, I will be attending another course in the near future.
Where to keep the gun on my body, especially during births, is my next question. I am not interested in keeping it in a bag, I know it won't stay on me.
What's appealing to me now is leggings with a deep pocket on the thigh. Or a belt with the gun at my back.
If you have any insights, I'm all ears!

05/03/2024

Delia’s Story
I haven’t written a story in a while. I had wanted to put out an exciting new one, but I haven’t had any super dramatic births recently. Delia’s story is touching and one can appreciate how the birth was transformative for her. So here goes.
Delia is a young mother of three living in a Yishuv. When the October 7th war broke out, she was about halfway through her pregnancy. She had already closed with me to attend her homebirth. Her husband was immediately drafted, leaving her to cope with a full-time job and three little children at home.
The pregnancy went along without any health problems, but Delia was under a lot of stress due to the war and her husband’s absence. We met monthly and I gave Delia emotional support to help her cope with the long lonely months.
Her previous births had been straight forwards and we were expecting a smooth birth once she went into labor.
Towards her 9th month, Delia’s husband was thankfully released from the army and life in Delia’s home once again regained a level of normalcy. However, despite Delia’s best attempts at releasing the tension of the previous months, there was an undercurrent of anxiety which accompanied her daily.
Delia had previously birthed after 40 weeks, so no one was surprised when she passed her due date. Then she passed week 41 and she started to get nervous. Should she take castor oil? Do reflexology? Try ni**le stimulation? I discussed all of Delia’s options with her, but I preferred to let the birth start naturally if possible. So apart from a massage and a reflexology session, she did nothing more.
The evening before the end of 42 weeks (after which a registered midwife is not permitted the homebirth), Delia decided to take castor oil. She was plagued by dilemmas and self-doubt. She did not want to risk out of homebirth at 42 weeks and end up with a hospital induction and she didn’t want to push her body into labor if it wasn’t ready, even though she was at 42 weeks.
I had offererd to do a stretch and sweep of the membranes the day prior, but her cervix was very posterior and it was too challenging for her. Taking castor oil in the evening is not really ideal, as it’s best to get sleep before labor starts. However, up till that moment Delia had been dithering about it. Once she decided to go for it at 8pm, I just said “ok lets do this!!” regardless of the time of day.
Delia’s contractions started up quickly and I was on my way by 10pm (remember, I was anticipating a fast birth). When I arrived, Delia was having strong regular contractions, but an internal exam found her to be only 2 cm dilated.
Delia labored throughout the night. With minimal progress. The doula and I did a few rounds of exercises and had her rest in the birth tub too. But by 6am, the effects of the castor oil had worn off. We all took a nap, while her husband got the kids ready for the day. A couple of hours later, we were ready to try again and Delia took another full dose of castor oil.
Contractions started up in the same manner. We tried another round of exercises. We left Delia alone for some private time to allow her to focus inwards and see what came up for her as she journeyed to meet her baby. And after a while, I tried the reverse Walcher’s position in the tub. I am pretty sure that that was the final piece that opened the lock of birth! as soon after Delia started vocalizing much louder and I could tell that she was finally progressing.
I woke up her husband and called the doula back (she had left for a bit) whilst Delia felt the urge to bear down. After a short while, she breathed her baby out gently into the water and he was born entirely in his amniotic sac. I pulled the sac covering his face off so he would be able to breathe and passed him up to Delia who took him to her chest. It took the baby half a minute to realise that he was born and to start breathing, but he got the idea quickly enough and soon gave a strong l***y cry.
Delia was crying too, she had been in labor for 16 hours (apart from the two hour break) and was physically and emotionally spent. She couldn’t believe that she had finally done it! That she had actually successfully birthed at home after all the self-doubt and months of stress.
She knew she had made the best decisions for her, in her own time and in her own way. Afterwards she said that she couldn’t imagine giving birth in hospital ever again. She loved the freedom and the flexibility of laboring at home. She also felt that she was transformed by the experience, that she’d gone through a life-changing event. She believed that the difficulty of going through her pregnancy alone had a significant effect on her labor. She attributed stress to the reason why her labor didn’t start naturally, and once it was jump started, took unusually long to progress. Delia felt that the labor was redemptive of that tension and she was grateful for the process, despite the hardship.
Honestly, it was an honor and a privilege to walk alongside Delia as she made her journey to bring her baby earthside. When a midwife works through a challenging birth with a mother, there is such great job satisfaction that it is totally worth the sleepless nights and the long days. We will be forever bonded from this birth and it is a position that I cherish greatly.
After the birth was over, Delia sat, recovering her strength in her own bed, amazed at what had transpired in her bedroom that night and day. She snuggled and nursed her newborn and shortly afterwards introduced her excited children to their new baby sister.

Sarah Seymour Private Midwife

07/11/2024

04/09/2024

18/06/2024

07/04/2024

19/03/2024

05/03/2024

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Practice

Shortcuts

Share

Category