By Allison Perkins

Last year, when Mandy was not quite nine-months pregnant, she and her husband moved from Fort Carson, Colo., to Fort Bragg, N.C.

They arrived the first week of November, moved into their new home Nov. 8 and, on Nov. 24, her baby girl arrived, three weeks early.

When she tells her story, there’s more than one woman in the room who completely understands what she endured.

Change-of-duty stations come at the most inconvenient times, and none seems to be more stressful than during a pregnancy.

Doctors say with care and preparation, this hurdle can be jumped with pregnant belly in tow.

Before you leave

Planning for the perfect delivery with a doctor you know, in a town you love, surrounded by friends and families? If you’re moving while you’re pregnant, you might have to adjust that plan to be a little more flexible.

When Mandy went into labor three weeks early, she was surrounded by a house full of boxes. The nursery furniture hadn’t been delivered yet, and Mandy packed her hospital bag between contractions.

While there are a lot of factors you cannot control, there are aspects of your birthing experience you can dictate.

First, moms-to-be moving close to their due date should consider taking their birthing classes before the PCS. Mandy says the class schedule at her new duty station didn’t allow her to attend before the early birth, and she actually had her lessons, “hands on” in the delivery room.

Next, ask for help, especially if you are doing a DITY move.

Sundee Price and her husband moved themselves from Maryland to Savannah, Ga., when she was about six-months pregnant. Her family helped the couple pack boxes, make the daylong drive and then move furniture and unpack at the other end, while she supervised and unpacked lightweight items.

Doctors say Price handled her DITY move the smart way.

Dr. Rodney Allen OB/GYN at Womack Army Hospital at Fort Bragg, N.C., says most women experiencing normal pregnancies can follow the same recommendations given to pregnant women on active duty: no prolonged standing, no stooping, limit bending and lift no more than 20 pounds.

“If you have preterm labor history or other complications, you may have more stringent requirements than that,” Allen says. “When you come in for your final visit, talk to your provider about your individual situation.”

That final doctor visit, Allen says, should be immediately before the patient leaves for her next duty station.

“That last visit is so important, especially if you have a preterm labor risk, though that’s something your doctor may have been following anyway,” Allen says. “This gives you a chance to plan.”

During the last visit, also be sure and pick up a copy of your medical records. Patients who transfer from one military facility to another tend to have little difficulty transferring records, Dr. Allen says. Any doctor within that system can pull up any patient in the computer system at a moment’s notice.

However, a personal copy of those records would be necessary if the unexpected occurs. If a patient has to be seen en route at a non-military facility, or if the patient is referred to a non-military specialist for a high-risk pregnancy, those records become very important.

“The most important thing I tell patients is that they need to get ownership of their medical information,” says Dr. Iffath Hoskins, an OB/GYN at Luthern Health Care in Brooklyn, N.Y., secretary of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in Washington D.C. and a captain in the Navy Reserves. “Many patients say they’ll tell their doctor about that stuff, but it is much more accurate to get copies of those kinds of things.”

She says patients do not necessarily need to carry a lifetime worth of records, just the milestone pieces of information particular to this pregnancy — results from blood tests, screenings and sonograms.

With the records, Hoskins says patients should carry a list of their medications, especially if they are moving overseas or if substitutions may need to be made.

Finally, women on the move need to look forward to their destination and try and set up an appointment, especially if she is moving to a non-military community.

“So often, after they arrive, people get settled in schools and jobs and start looking for dry cleaners and lawn care and then they remember they need a doctor,” Hoskins says. “Depending on the community, they may not have any openings.”