Operational Obstetrics & Gynecology

Normal Pregnancy

Diagnosis of Pregnancy	Disability	Thermal Stress
Pregnancy Tests	Maternal Skin Changes	Noise
Prenatal Care	Nausea	Vibration
Nutrition	Heartburn	Solvents
Prenatal Vitamins	Sciatica	Heavy Metals
Laboratory Tests	Carpal Tunnel Syndrome	X-rays
Ultrasound Scans	URI	Radiation
Estimating Gestational Age	Antibiotics	CRT Exposure
Fetal Heart Beat	Other Drugs	Diving
Exercise	Immunizations	Hyperbaric Therapy
		Aircrew Status

Pregnant Aircrew Members

Aircrew status while pregnant is a complex issue, involving fetal risks, maternal risks and aircrew performance.

The maternal risks include decreased balance, decreased motion tolerance, decreased g-tolerance, gas compression/recompression effects. During the second and third trimester, placental abruption caused by the shearing force of inadvertently falling or striking the abdomen violently is a relatively common occurrence.

Fetal risks include exposure to noise, heat, chemicals, organic solvents, and low-frequency, whole-body vibration.

For these reasons, there is general agreement among the services to restrict pregnant aircrewman from participating in high-performance aircraft flights. There is less agreement in the area of helicopters and multiengine, fixed-wing aircraft.

Whether to allow a pregnant aircrewmember to continue her flight duties should be individualized, after considering the stage of pregnancy, the presence or absence of risk factors for her pregnancy or her flight crew performance, her individual service's rules, the degree of exposure to potentially harmful stressors in the aviation environment.

Home ╖ Introduction ╖ Medical Support of Women in Field Environments ╖ The Prisoner of War Experience ╖ Routine Care ╖ Pap Smears ╖ Human Papilloma Virus ╖ Contraception ╖ Birth Control Pills ╖ Vulvar Disease ╖ Vaginal Discharge ╖ Abnormal Bleeding ╖ Menstrual Problems ╖ Abdominal Pain ╖ Urination Problems ╖ Menopause ╖ Breast Problems ╖ Sexual Assault ╖ Normal Pregnancy ╖ Abnormal Pregnancy ╖ Normal Labor and Delivery ╖ Problems During Labor and Delivery ╖ Care of the Newborn

Bureau of Medicine and Surgery
Department of the Navy
2300 E Street NW
Washington, D.C
20372-5300

Operational Obstetrics & Gynecology - 2nd Edition
The Health Care of Women in Military Settings
CAPT Michael John Hughey, MC, USNR
NAVMEDPUB 6300-2C
January 1, 2000

This web version of Operational Obstetrics & Gynecology is provided by The Brookside Associates Medical Education Division. It contains original contents from the official US Navy NAVMEDPUB 6300-2C, but has been reformatted for web access and includes advertising and links that were not present in the original version. This web version has not been approved by the Department of the Navy or the Department of Defense. The presence of any advertising on these pages does not constitute an endorsement of that product or service by either the Department of Defense or the Brookside Associates. The Brookside Associates is a private organization, not affiliated with the United States Department of Defense. All material in this version is unclassified.

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