Ofir and Daniel, a young couple from Sderot, were excitedly anticipating their first home birth. On October 7th, they found themselves at Ofir’s parents’ house in Sderot with their extended family. At the same time, Ofir’s father was taking shelter at the synagogue. However, things quickly took a turn for the worse as Ofir, her sister, and her grandmother all became ill due to the lack of water, electricity, and internet reception in the area.

After a challenging weekend at the Medical Center, the family realized they needed to evacuate as soon as possible. They encountered chaos and destruction as they made their way out of the city, eventually finding accommodation in Moshav Shoresh’s B&Bs where they could receive care and support.

Despite the difficult circumstances, the family was fortunate enough to receive help from Prof. Yossi Ezra, the director of the obstetrics and gynecology unit at Hadassah Ein Kerem. When it came time for Ofir to give birth, they were received at the hospital and were informed that a caesarean section might be necessary. However, Prof. Ezra and his medical team were able to safely deliver Ofir’s baby.

Ofir expressed her feelings of anxiety and hope surrounding her daughter’s birth, emphasizing how grateful she was for the support and warmth she and her family received from Prof. Ezra and his wife as well as the staff at the maternity ward.

The rest of the article appears to be about Hawaii and Illinois marijuana laws but is unrelated to Ofir and Daniel’s story of their difficult birth experience during Israel’s ongoing conflict with Gaza Strip militants (Hamas) which led to power outages in southern Israel due to rockets attacks on critical infrastructure like power stations that left hundreds of thousands without electricity for days or even weeks while some areas also suffered water shortages due to damaged pipelines that supply water from desalination plants which are located far away from Gaza Strip border with Israel