{"id":248897,"date":"2021-07-10T15:36:07","date_gmt":"2021-07-10T20:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=248897"},"modified":"2021-07-09T17:53:28","modified_gmt":"2021-07-09T22:53:28","slug":"air-force-pregnancy-document-postpartum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/air-force-pregnancy-document-postpartum\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Force Sergeant creates guide to help pregnant airmen navigate pregnancy and postpartum"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

When Air Force Tech Sgt. Nancy Thompson became pregnant, she searched through Air Force sources to find out how to navigate her pregnancy and postpartum period while serving. As she soon discovered, this important information was very difficult to find. For instance, she thought she’d be able to have a 12-month deferment after her daughter was born, only to find herself up for a transfer just six<\/em> months postpartum. It turned out she needed to apply for a special post-delivery assignment deferral \u2014\u00a0information that she’d never uncovered during her extensive research.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt blew my mind how this wasn\u2019t common knowledge and how we were not informed nor empowered to have this information,\u201d Thompson told Military Times<\/a>. \u201cIt infuriated me.\u201d<\/p>\n

So Thompson decided to take matters into her own hands and create a manual for moms going through the same situation.<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Five decades ago, pregnant women in the Air Force had to abort or be discharged. Not much has changed.<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Throughout her research, Thompson found many other Air Force moms asking the same questions as she did, and she discovered that her supervisors often did not know the answers to important information. Convinced that this needed to be easier for Air Force moms to navigate, she decided to compile all of the relevant information she collected into one easy-to-access document<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to Thompson, the guide “includes info on separating, profiles, PT testing, assignment codes, acquiring a breast pump, lactation rooms, maternity leave, court-ordered child custody assignments and more.”<\/p>\n

Thompson initially shared her work on an Air Force Facebook page<\/a> and was immediately overwhelmed by the response. While she started out offering to email it to people, she couldn’t keep up with the demand and quickly had to create a Google document with a link so that all could access the guide.\u00a0Her hard work was also noticed by Air Force leadership, who contacted Thompson and asked her to partner with their\u00a0Women\u2019s Initiative Team to make the guide an official document.<\/p>\n

Thompson stressed that her document is helpful for everyone, not just pregnant moms. “I originally shared this on a woman\u2019s only page however I feel male supervisors can use this information to help their pregnant Airmen navigate motherhood and provide them knowledge. Doesn\u2019t hurt to know what your troops can go through,” she wrote.<\/p>\n

For now, the official guide is still in development, but Thompson is thrilled that it has been met with a positive response. \u201cI am so happy and derive such a sense of joy that women and supervisors feel empowered by this information,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s what I would have wanted for myself when I was newly pregnant.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Air Force Tech Sgt. Nancy Thompson became pregnant, she searched through Air Force sources to find out how to navigate her pregnancy and postpartum period while serving. As she soon discovered, this important information was very difficult to find. For instance, she thought she’d be able to have a 12-month deferment after her daughter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":192559,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[9455,3473],"tags":[10778,10781,10783,10780,10779,10777,10782],"yoast_head":"\nAir Force Sergeant creates guide to help pregnant airmen navigate pregnancy and postpartum<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After struggling to navigate the rules and regulations surrounding pregnancy and postpartum in the Air Force, this mom created a manual for other women.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/air-force-pregnancy-document-postpartum\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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