This is a post that I have thought about long and hard. I was a military wife at one point in my life. My husband was a Marine (and still is) and we were a proud Marine family. We lived on base for about 1/2 of his service before we were discharged due to an injury.
I can still hear the cadence when I see any sort of military "commercial" on TV. I can still hear the jets flying over head. I can still hear the engines roar as they prepare for take off. I was proud to be a military wife. Scared out of my mind at times. I'll never forget the phone call that came in the middle of the night and he was told to report to his station at once and be prepared to leave. We didn't know where. We didn't know how long. We were scared to death!!!! I was pregnant and being left behind. Several hours later and many tears shed, he returned home. It was only a drill.
While pregnant with Kyle, he was deployed to 29 Palms. It was the longest 2 months. I was a stay at home wife. I was also very pregnant. I had this very small "baby bump" when he left and when he came back 8 weeks before delivery, his first question was "What happened?".
All of this to say, I wanted to tell you about a VERY special program. It's called "Operation Special Delivery". In light of the fact that the President is sending more troops to Afganistan, I have been so burdened for the "Mom's To Be" that are left behind and not knowing if their husbands will be home for the birth of their baby. In Operation Special Delivery (OSD), they get in the request from a Mom-To-Be to have a Doula at her delivery. This is of NO COST to the Mom. The Doula is stricktly a volunteer and donates her time to help and support this Mom. I keep going back to the site and reading and reading and reading it again. I can not imagine what it must be like. I have heard stories from the nurses at the hospital about how they will set up the computers with the camera's so they can Skype the Dad into the delivery room so that he does not miss anything. From what I understand, there is never a dry eye in the room. At the bottom of the post is their website. I would encourage you to go and see it. Read about what they do. It is just amazing. I am really praying about volunteering to do a delivery for a precious Military Mom who is home while Dad is serving our country. What a blessing that no amount of money could ever repay!!!!!! I will keep you posted on my decision and let you know.
In the words of the Marines...... Semper Fi (Oooo Raaa!!)
Laboring With You,
Doula Mama Pam
http://www.operationspecialdelivery.com/index.htm
3 comments:
I'm a Marine wife living in Okinawa, Japan. I think it would be great for you to volunteer! We are waiting on children for now because we have no idea when he will be told it's his time to deploy and it would be so hard to have him gone for our first. God Bless!
i think that is a great program, i wonder how these ladies get on post though. i think you being a volunteer would be great. i have delivered 5 babies and several times i have wondered if DH would be there for the birth. what a neat idea
What a great idea! I'm a military wife and it would be AWESOME to have someone with me when giving birth. Especially if hubby was deployed.
I think it is also worth fighting for including doula and/or midwife services in Tricare Prime. Right now it is not covered at all.
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