Virginian-Pilot Examines U.S. Navy Pregnancy Policies, Data

Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 16 Oct 2007 - 10:00 PDT

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The Virginian-Pilot on Thursday examined U.S. Navy's pregnancy-related policies and data on pregnancy in the Navy. A new Navy pregnancy policy that went into effect in July gives women one year of shore duty after giving birth. Under the Navy's previous pregnancy policy, women were allowed four months of shore duty after giving birth before being deployed to a ship or assigned to a war zone, the Pilot reports.

According to the Navy's 2005 biennial Pregnancy and Parenthood Survey, women comprise 15% of Navy personnel, and 38% have children. Two-thirds of enlisted women who became pregnant had not planned to do so -- higher than overall U.S. rate of 49% and above the Department of Defense's target of 30%, the Pilot reports.

Navy officials encourage women to plan pregnancies to coincide with shore duty. If women become pregnant during sea duty, they are transferred at 20 weeks' gestation, and weight and physical fitness requirements temporarily are eased. In addition, women receive 40 days of maternity leave after delivering an infant. Sailors only are allowed to leave the Navy before their enlistment is complete if they show "overriding and compelling factors of personal need." Women who work in understaffed fields or who extend their enlistment for training or schooling are ineligible for the exemption, according to the Pilot. The Navy allowed 107 pregnant women to leave before their enlistment was up in 2006, compared with 96 women in 2005, according to Mike McLellan, a spokesperson for Navy Personnel Command.

The Navy emphasizes the importance of condoms, birth control pills or other contraceptive methods, according to the Pilot. It also provides access to emergency contraception, which can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse, at all clinics and hospitals. A Navy training video, called "Give Yourself a Chance," addresses pregnancy in the Navy. In the video, an actress wearing a sailor uniform says, "Parenthood, whether planned or not, will have a huge effect on your career. ... For a woman in the Navy, getting pregnant while assigned to sea duty disrupts her qualification process" (Wiltrout, Virginian-Pilot, 10/11).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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