# mamas on active duty



## 2xy (Nov 30, 2008)

Anyone here give birth while on active duty, either presently or in years past? It's been over 18 years since my oldest was born, and I'm still angry about my experience. It doesn't discolor my whole life or anything, but I desperately wish I could go back in time and redo things.

Regulations say that active duty members cannot refuse medical treatment. I was induced at 42 weeks, for no other reason than I was post-dates. I had plenty of amniotic fluid, was healthy, and baby was in no distress. What followed was a nightmarish labor and cesarean during which I lost half my blood volume (which wasn't replaced, for some reason).

Could I have refused the induction? Who knows?


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## 2ID_Wife (Jul 23, 2005)

I had 4 kids while on AD. You can not refuse but you can have a reason to delay it, but to be honest most midwifes/doc will not let you go past 42 weeks much at all after 42 weeks you run other risk that are fast on set with no warnings.
I had an induction but called the ob the night with a fever, delayed it 3 days. Never had to prove I had a fever or anything.
I was trying to deny a test that was optional and after time the clinic called my command.
Although with more and more military hospitals closing their obs it is getting easier since your doc is civilian.


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## j_p_i (Sep 9, 2008)

Sorry to hear about your experience! I was 6.5 months pregnant when I got out, and had several close friends give birth while on active duty (this was a large reason why I chose to get out before giving birth). Could I ask which hospital you gave birth at? I would have given birth at Madigan on Fort Lewis, and was seen by their midwifery team while on active duty. My overall birth was a great experience, but I cannot say for sure if this would have been the case had I stayed active duty (I moved back to my childhood home and gave birth in Maine). Any friends I had who gave birth opted for epidurals and many wound up with c-sections, often from being induced between 40-42 weeks. A friend still on active duty was recently induced at 37 weeks (she said her bp was too high, induced and wound up with a c-section). There seemed to be a huge lack of continuity of care there.

I do know that it is not common practice to let a woman go past 42 weeks, but in my experience I could have gone to 43 weeks without being induced (NOT at a military hospital though).


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## 2ID_Wife (Jul 23, 2005)

I had 2 kids in korea on post(youngsan) after I got out, 1 at Offutt afb in NE while I was in , and 4 with a cilivan doc in AL(rucker had no ob) 3 of them while I was in.


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