Wartime Baby Boom: Birth Rates Surge despite War

March 5, 2025

by: Or Hadar ~ Ynetnews

Wednesday, 5 March 2025 | In the early days of the war that erupted in October 2023, Hadar Raphael, 34, from Ramat Gan, was called up for reserve duty under an emergency mobilization order. His wife, Shir Noy Feiner, 34, was left at home with their two children — Sol, 5, and Ofek, then just three months old.

“It was a difficult time for the country and for us at home,” Feiner recalled Monday. “I found myself on maternity leave with two small children while my husband was away in the reserves.”

Despite the challenges, the couple welcomed their third child, a daughter named Libi, two months ago.

“I grew up with deep Zionist values and love for this country,” Feiner said. “My grandparents were Holocaust survivors, and my late father was an air force navigator who served in all of Israel’s wars. Even when I was recovering from childbirth at Sheba Medical Center, and later at home, we found ourselves running with three little ones to the safe room during air raid sirens.”

Bringing children into the world during a war, she added, was not easy, but she and her husband remained hopeful. “We believe Israel will get through this, and our children will know a life without war. That is our strength as a people — we have endured wars, loss and sorrow, yet we continue to build families.”

War-time Birth Rates Surge

The Feiners are not alone. A report by the Knesset Research and Information Center, obtained by Ynet, reveals a significant increase in births between August and October 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. In September 2024, for example, 15,968 births were recorded — about 7% more than the 14,878 births reported in September the previous year.

According to the report, more than 80% of women in Israel give birth between weeks 37 and 40 of pregnancy, indicating that most of the women who gave birth during those months likely conceived in the first few months following the outbreak of war, between November 2023 and January 2024.

The report was compiled at the request of Knesset Member Pnina Tamano-Shata (National Unity Party), chair of the Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality. It includes data only on Israeli women and does not account for births among foreign nationals or Palestinian women who gave birth in Israel.

The rise in births is particularly striking against the backdrop of a declining birth rate in Israel from 2021 to 2023. According to the Population and Immigration Authority, 172,500 births were recorded in 2023, while in 2024, the number jumped to approximately 181,000.

The trend has continued beyond the Knesset study period. Data from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics shows an increase in births from November 2024 through February 2025. Hospitals across the country have reported overflowing maternity wards, with some likening the trend to the “baby boom” seen in the United States after World War II.

“Despite the unimaginable hardship of the past year, we see how the people of Israel choose to grow from grief,” Tamano-Shata said. “The rise in births is proof of our inner strength and our ability to create new life even in the most difficult times.”

Families Choosing Life over Uncertainty

For some, the decision to have children during wartime was not in spite of the conflict — but because of it.

Moran Bouzaglo, 40, a Pilates instructor from Tel Aviv, and her husband, Shimi, 35, welcomed their first child four months ago. She became pregnant several months after the war began, and she said the decision was a deliberate one.

“It gave us some light and sanity in a dark time,” she explained. “At the same time, there were fears. I kept asking myself: What will happen when he reaches the age of military service? It was terrifying, but we decided to go for it anyway. After October 7 took so many lives from us, bringing a life into the world felt like the right thing to do.”

The night Bouzaglo gave birth, maternity wards were unusually crowded. “At Lis Maternity Hospital alone, there were more than 50 births that night, and they had to open an additional ward,” she said.

Even in moments of joy, reality intruded. “Just minutes after I gave birth, a siren went off. Luckily, the hospital was fortified. But yes, this is what it means to have a baby during wartime — running to shelters with a newborn.”

A family Grows despite War

For Rotem, 30, and Hanan Sasson, 32, from Rehovot, the war interrupted their family life almost immediately. Their firstborn son, Itamar, was just six weeks old when the war broke out, and Hanan was called up to reserve duty that same day. The couple did not see each other for two months.

“We could only communicate through letters,” Rotem said. “I sent him pictures so he could see how our son was growing. We had no direct contact at all.”

Hanan has since completed more than 300 days of reserve duty, first in Gaza and later on the northern front with Lebanon.

In April 2024, while Hanan was home on a month-long break, Rotem discovered she was pregnant again. “I told him I wanted another child,” she said. “Strangely enough, during the war, we felt an even stronger urge to expand our family.”

Rotem learned she was pregnant while Hanan was deployed in Gaza. “I waited two weeks until he was home to tell him,” she recalled. She had hoped the pregnancy might keep him from returning to the battlefield, but for Hanan, it became another reason to fight.

“He felt he was fighting for our children’s future, so they wouldn’t have to fight when they grow up,” she said. When they learned they were expecting another son, Hanan told her, “We need more soldiers.”

Their second son, Roee, was born in January 2025 at Shamir Medical Center. “Throughout his reserve duty, I kept praying he would make it home for the birth,” Rotem said. “Thankfully, he did.”

Posted on March 5, 2025

Source: (This article was originally published by Ynetnews on March 4, 2025. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.

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