A new therapeutic relaxation garden, the first of its kind in Israel, was inaugurated in the maternity ward of Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera. The garden was established thanks to a generous donation of NIS 1.5 million from friends of JNF Holland.
Dr. Mickey Dudkiewicz, Director of Hillel Yaffe Medical Center: “Nature plays a significant role in the recovery process and in our patients’ physical and mental health.”
The therapeutic relaxation garden, which was established for postpartum women, combines aesthetic and therapeutic elements that provide an atmosphere of calm, relaxation, optimism, and inner connection - an additional component of the complementary health services offered to women in the first days after birth.
The garden was established at the initiative of Hillel Yaffe Medical Center’s medical team and with the financial support of JNF Holland. The garden was designed by the architect Zvika Kanonich, who has much experience in designing therapeutic gardens.
The dedication ceremony for the garden took place on June 18, 2018, in the presence of Professor Moshe Kon, President of JNF Holland; Mr. Freddie Rosenberg, JNF Holland CEO, representatives of KKL-JNF Israel, the management of Hillel Yaffe Medical Center, and the staff of the medical center’s maternity ward.
Karine Bolton Laor, KKL-JNF Director of International Relations and Conferences, emceed the ceremony. “Birth is an exciting event, and new mothers need time to rest and recover,” she said. “The garden will provide the new mothers with a pleasant place to recover physically and mentally and form the first bonds with their babies.”
Dr. Mickey Dudkiewicz, Director of Hillel Yaffe Medical Center, thanked JNF Holland for its generous contribution and KKL-JNF for its participation in establishing the garden. “We believe that nature plays a highly significant role in the recovery process and in our patients’ physical and mental health,” he said. “We see this place as a ‘green lung’ - a necessary thing for the health of public whom we treat.
"We are the first, and also the only, hospital in Israel to establish a garden - a therapeutic relaxation garden for postpartum women only, which is suited to their needs and provides them with a private place in the first days after birth, which is a physically and emotionally challenging time for them. The landscape architect Zvika Kanonich, an expert in therapeutic gardens, teamed up with the medical and nursing staff of the department, who described the special needs of postpartum women. Our hearts expand to see the final result. We believe that body and soul are one. Also, even with uncompromising professionalism and a dedicated staff, there is always room to give more.”
Professor Moshe Kon, President of JNF Holland, said: “We are happy about the cooperation that created a garden that is not just a garden, but a bit of Paradise. As a physician, I understand the importance of a calming, healing environment, and I am proud of the result. We intend to contribute, in the future, to the establishment of a green lung at the hospital entrance.”
Michal Manheimer, Director of Fundraising and Development at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center, said: “I would like to thank you, JNF Holland, for having chosen to contribute to this special and exciting project.”
Freddie Rosenberg, KKL-JNF Holland CEO, said: “Every year, we donate six million shekels to projects in Israel in the fields of water, agriculture, and the environment, particularly in the Arava region. The special project of establishing a therapeutic garden for postpartum women charmed us, and we decided to donate 1.5 million shekels to it so that women who had just given birth would have a place of quiet and relaxation.”
KKL-JNF World Chairman Daniel Atar was unable to attend the ceremony, but sent his greetings to the attendees. “I do not see this garden, and KKL-JNF’s investment in hospitals throughout Israel, as a donation, but as taking responsibility. Taking social responsibility is a never-ending mission, a challenge to be worked on anew each day. I feel privileged that the organization I head has taken part of this community work, part of the responsibility for the country, upon itself.”
After the welcoming remarks, the recognition sign was unveiled. Professor Moshe Kon and Freddie Rosenberg, together with Dr. Mickey Dudkiewicz and Dr. Amnon Ben Moshe, Administrative Director of Hillel Yaffe Medical Center, lifted the veil from the recognition sign. Later on, they planted a tree as a symbol of health and renewal.
Before planting the tree, Freddie Rosenberg recited the prayer for planting trees. “These saplings that we plant before you today - send their roots deep and grow their fruit so that they may thrive by your will among all the trees of Israel, for blessing and beauty.”
After the tree planting, the attendees gave gifts to one another. Dr. Mickey Dudkiewicz gave Professor Kon a photograph of the therapeutic garden, and the representatives of JNF Holland gave the hospital representatives a touching gift: a chestnut from the famous chestnut tree that Anne Frank look out over from the attic where she lived in hiding and wrote her diary during the Holocaust.
About the Serenity Garden
The therapeutic relaxation garden is located in a closed, patio-style courtyard of the maternity ward. Its purpose is to provide an intimate, protective space for recovery, rest, and renewal during the first days after birth. Its design includes various elements that combine to create a special atmosphere to the sight, touch, and the senses. The garden includes a pebbled footpath that gives a reflexology massage to the soles of swollen feet, as well as mild physical activity.
Shaded, secluded places to sit are scattered throughout the garden. These special seats, which were brought from Italy, include garden swings, footstools, and a table for hosting visitors. At the heart of the garden is a biological pond that conveys a message of vitality and intimacy. The garden is surrounded by rich vegetation that imparts a homelike sense of warmth, and that includes tropical plants, ferns, deciduous plants, a cypress tree for height, fruit trees (pomelo, the Or clementine, and citrus trees) whose fruit can be eaten straight from the tree, edible herbs, and 30 plants that give off fragrances that attract butterflies and birds.
Zvika Kanonich, architect: “The main idea was to create secluded areas for individuals and groups that would give the postpartum women a sense of privacy and intimacy during the days just after giving birth. The paradigm that guided us in constructing the garden was that an environment of vegetation and nature created serenity and improved clinical values such as blood pressure. The materials we used were architectural concrete, a bamboo deck, lawns, a green wall system created by the Green Wall company, and a microclimate that creates optimal climatic comfort for the new mothers.”