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Maj Kim Patterson
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Let's take a look at history. I am expecting baby #2. Baby 1 was not expected to live out the first year. I had previously miscarried. Baby 2. I was flown to TX on a military aircraft but left to find my own way back home. Pregnant. With my single suitcase. I found a civilian airline to fly home. Labor began in the air, I was less than halfway through my pregnancy, the pilot decides that best course of action would be to land at a different state, my contractions are less than 5 minutes apart the plane is headed for Phx. "Land in ABQ" my opinion: keep flying, there is a doctor in AZ who knows my history and the resources, we continued to PHX. I met with the high risk dr, and the only option was bed rest, no activity, but the commander insisted I continue to work from home on his pet projects. My "evaluation" reflects his opinion of where I belong. I report to the base and state the baby is coming. They turn me away, I drive to a civilian hospital where Baby 2 is born shortly after. Since I wasn't preapproved, I was docked leave, I was also commanded to return to service within 4 weeks. With 2 children under the age of 2, both barely surviving. By this time, the first women to graduate from the USAF academy have arrived on base and also are in need of maternity care. This issue should have been addressed decades ago. There have been women serving since day 1. How do we end up pregnant? Sometimes, we have been raped. Multiple times, sometimes we believe we have found love and want to start a family., other times, it's incest. It's not always pretty.

Fast forward to this week. There is an entire wing dedicated to Women's Health Care,

Remember how you felt when you came home and people only showed derision? That's was what it felt like to be a pregnant woman on Active Duty, serving her country proudly and far exceeding expectations.

So I pose this question to the men. You have a child and another on the way, choose. The baby or the career, there is no wiggle room. It's a yes/no decision.
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CW3 Matt Hutchason
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I’m glad you shared this. Thinking about it, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a word about women specific VA services. This is a great share.
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CPT David Gowel
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There's also this recently expanded VA / DOD pilot around women's health with leadership from Maj Alea Nadeem . https://reservenationalguard.com/reserve-guard-health/program-aims-to-ease-military-transition-for-female-veterans/
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Maj Alea Nadeem
Maj Alea Nadeem
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Thank you CPT David Gowel ! Our team is trying to connect women veterans with the VA Health Care and educate them of what services are available to them. This is separate from disability claims. If you would like to attend one if or courses please see link to sign up. New dates for June will be updated soon. https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1595519/air-force-partners-with-va-implements-womens-health-transition-pilot-program/
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