CAF Medical Staff on deployment
Photo Credit: CAF/DND
Esprit de Corps Magazine July 2020 // Volume 27 Issue 6
Let's Talk About Women in the Military – Column 16
By Military Woman
Question:
Do military women need more workplace considerations to ensure safe pregnancies?
Answer:
Last month we discussed whether military women need “special” occupational health and safety (OHS) workplace considerations. We concluded that both military women and men can have biological sex-specific needs, and that these facts of life shouldn’t result in the naming of one sex’s issues as “normal” and the other’s as “special.”
One obvious OHS workplace difference between women and men relates to pregnancy. Pregnancy is a natural life event that all Canadian employers should include as part of their OHS workplace plans and preparations. Ideally, pregnancy and subsequent parenthood should not adversely affect a woman’s health or career progression in any job setting. For many traditionally women-friendly workplaces, the large number of women who have worked while pregnant has already paved the way for reproductive hazard identification and the implementation of required risk mitigation measures.
Women entered with significant numbers into “non-traditional” operational workplaces, such as the military, starting in the 1980s. Since the number of women in these workplaces is relatively small compared to men, and the number of pregnant women is even smaller, there is a dearth of research into women-specific hazard exposures. This means that operational military environments are in a bit of a “research desert,” with little robust science available to base policy or recommendations on. So military women and their employers are left unclear on how to best scientifically quantify and address workplace reproductive hazards.
The military’s present risk management approach to reproductive health hazards requires three different, and sometimes competing, determinations of what is in the best interest of the: (1) woman’s health and career in the short and long-term; (2) pregnancy; and (3) military’s need to meet OHS and legal standards, while also addressing operational effectiveness and mission success requirements.
One strategy to ensure the health of the mother and baby, while also meeting the needs of the military, is to pre-plan pregnancies whenever possible. In the US military, every medical encounter is viewed as an opportunity to confirm whether or not a military member wishes to conceive in the year ahead. If the answer is no, various ways to decrease the chances of an unintended pregnancy are reviewed. If the answer is yes, a pre-conception counselling medical appointment is booked.
The purpose of a pre-conception counselling session is to maximize a woman’s general health and ability to successfully conceive. Whereas these medical sessions are recommended at least three months prior to conception in civilian healthcare, they are recommended a year ahead for military personnel. Topics to be reviewed include past reproductive history, family history, diet, exercise, folic acid supplement, weight, nicotine use, alcohol use, prescription drug use, cannabis, pets, relationship status, and any anticipated near-term needs for dental work, vaccinations, x-rays and /or surgery.
Unique to military pre-conception counselling, a full workplace reproductive hazard review is also conducted for both current and possible future hazard exposures. Hazard exposures include chemical (gas hut, pesticide exposure), biological (Zika virus, COVID-19, live vaccines, partner’s potential workplace exposures), physical (noise, radiation, hypobaric oxygen, egress training), ergonomics (prolonged standing, shift work), psycho-social (stress levels, available social supports, risk for gender-based violence), and anthropometrics (need for specialized uniforms or equipment while pregnant that might need to be ordered far in advance). Some of these exposures come with medical recommendations to wait as long as a full year before a planned conception.
To optimize the safety of pregnancies, military women (and men) need more Canadian research and workplace awareness about reproductive hazards, risks, and mitigation strategies. One of many, windows of opportunity for the employer is to ensure the screening and education of all military members before planned conceptions. Other militaries provide generic reproductive information through open-source phone apps (e.g., the US Navy’s “Pregnancy and Parenthood” app), followed up with specific individualized information at pre-conception medical counselling sessions.
Is there a reason Canada couldn’t do the same?
