Dedicated to my husband and son, Zecharia and Benyamin David
David: I gave birth to a girl. It was all red and my mother thought I’m going to lose my child.
Ratsaby: There were no midwives in Yemen?
David: No. The older women deliver the young. They cut the umbilical cord, bury the placenta, and wash the mother. For a month, my sisters didn’t let me out of bed. They fed me with harish and ‘asit.
Ratsaby: What did you do if the baby doesn’t nurse?
David: In Yemen, all babies nurse.
In Israel, I told my husband to call an ambulance, but my husband said no. I told him that “if they take the child, I will be responsible. I will tell them to take me with him”. I stayed there for 3 hours and cried to the sky. I was ashamed of the people in the tent. I got into the hospital and gave birth after one hour. I was left for 10 days in the hospital. It was my third birth and I was convinced to stay at the hospital. They told me not to be afraid, and they gave him to me 3 times a day. After 10 days they took me with the ambulance back to the tent. Usually, when a woman leaves the hospital, they take the baby to a children's home, but when I got there the lady told me they were full. So I was happy to take my boy with me, I preferred that. Now it was time to give my son a brit mila. We called Avraham Sabri to be our mohel. The mohel came and examined the child. He said he was healthy, and so we gave him a brit mila. His father loved him very much.
Ratsaby: In Yemen, what does the mother do after she gives birth? How long does she stay home?
David: After birth, the mother stays home. They give her a zapa, a celebration, when she comes out. I came outside after one month. My sisters took care of me. A month after birth, they dressed me with fine clothes. After that we went to sit by a well and pumped water from there. Then we returned home and had a meal. During that month we eat 'asit, harish and samna (melted butter with honey). For lunch we eat pita bread and lachuch. An abundance of food.