“It was one of the highlights of my life. It’s amazing how Hashem made the world and all that’s in it and this new little life —it’s just so perfect. For days after the birth I felt like I was floating on air. I had a tremendous gratitude to Hashem for giving me such an experience — to be at a birth and to have that experience of welcoming a child into the world.”

Most women who have gone through childbirth can identify with such emotions. But the above quote comes from a woman who although she has been my help and support during the birth of my last three children has never had children herself.

Adina Abrams* and I became close friends from the moment I arrived in Tzfas. Living on the same street with a similar outlook on life and a similar sense of humor we hit it off immediately. So much so that she was the woman I chose to be with me during that most intense of all life experiences childbirth despite the fact that she had never gone through that experience herself. I knew she would be there for me. But even after all we’d experienced together I had still never heard the story of her experience of childlessness. Then I realized what an awesome thing it was for a childless woman to be a labor coach and I thought that it was a story that others might want to hear and be inspired by. So we settled down with coffee and cake and with “our” new baby playing beside us I listened.

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