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| Ritual circumcision illustration |
A Jewish baby died after choking on his mother’s breast milk just minutes after going through a ritual circumcision procedure, according to hospital officials in Israel.
The incident happened while the baby’s family were celebrating the circumcision. The baby was rushed to the hospital, but died a week after the incident.
A rescue worker of United Hatzalah of Holon, who arrived at the scene, performed CPR on the baby. The baby was taken to Wolfson Hospital in critical condition. The initial investigation determined that the baby suffocated while his mother was attempting to breastfeed while the child was crying.
"When I arrived in the synagogue, the baby was blue, without a pulse and not breathing," Yehuda Mizrahi, head of the United Hatzalah branch in Bat Yam, said. "I immediately began performing CPR, and within minutes, I was joined by other paramedics. After about 20 minutes, the baby’s pulse returned. The ambulance then took the baby to the hospital," Mizrahi added.
"The incident happened about an hour after the circumcision, during a party held in celebration of the event.
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel also conducted an investigation in order to clarify the details of the case. The initial results do not show any link between the circumcision and the baby’s death.
The mohel, who performed the circumcision, is a veteran certified mohel. The mohel, also accompanied the family to the hospital.