It has been quite a summer at Laniado Hospital's maternity division - and the newest tiniest patients are only part of the story.

Since the doors opened on the hospital's new Sheltered Maternity Department, more and more mothers are choosing to give birth at Laniado, travelling from well beyond Netanya. During the spring, daily births surged from an average of 23 to almost 40, making Laniado the busiest maternity hospital in Israel for a time - and the numbers have kept climbing ever since. It follows a record-breaking 8,400 babies delivered in 2024, with the expanded facilities built to welcome nearly 9,500 a year.

Meeting that demand has meant growth across the board. The hospital has completed 12 new sheltered delivery rooms, a new maternity triage and two state-of-the-art gynaecological operating theatres - and this week announced five senior promotions from within the division's own ranks, including new deputy directors, a head of high-risk pregnancy and a head of delivery room.

"Thousands of women put their trust in us and vote with their feet every month," said Laniado CEO Nadav Chen. "The significant jump in births demands that we keep the patient experience at the very top of our priorities."

Amid the bustle, the summer also brought two moving moments of dedication in the new Sheltered Maternity C Department. In one, Andrew Greystoke and his family inaugurated a beautiful new room in memory of his late wife Andrea, cutting the ribbon and unveiling the dedication plaque alongside Meir Mark, Laniado's VP of Development, and Simon Silver, Director of Development for Laniado UK. In another, David and Leah Cutler inaugurated a state-of-the-art treatment room in honour of their dear friend and long-time Laniado supporter Harold Stern, who unveiled the plaque and recited the Shehecheyanu blessing.

Both rooms look out over the Mediterranean, and both will serve mothers and newborns for decades to come. As Harold Stern reflected at the ceremony, Laniado has grown from a modest local maternity facility into a leading medical centre of 61 departments and units - and, as the summer's birth figures show, its story of new life is only accelerating.