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New Instruction Underscores Navy's Commitment to Family Issues
Story Number: NNS070620-04
6/20/2007

From Chief of Naval Personnel Diversity Directorate

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy announced the release of OPNAVINST 6000.1C, Navy Guidelines Concerning Pregnancy and Parenthood, on June 14, updating the Navy’s pregnancy instruction for the first time since 2003.

The revision incorporates legislative and Department of Defense changes to the current policy regarding both pregnancy and parenthood, following an 18-month comprehensive review coordinated by the Office of Women’s Policy.

“The Navy continues to evolve in the size and shape of our force and our instructions and policies need to reflect that changing demographic and emphasis on family,” said Vice Adm. John C. Harvey Jr., Chief of Naval Personnel. “How we handle family issues will continue to be a major factor in whether many individuals decide to stay in the Navy. We need to make sure we are doing what is in the best interest of the individual, the family, and the Navy, and the updated instruction continues us in that direction.”

The Bureau of Medicine and the Office of Women’s Policy reviewed the most recent medical literature and determined that the current instruction no longer met the needs of Navy women.

Specifically, the new instruction extends the operational deferment for new mothers from four months to twelve following delivery. This change was intended to properly address medical concerns that may arise following pregnancy that may not show up until six months post partum. Increased post partum depression testing is also provided for, as is greater support for military members undergoing adoptions and in-vitro fertilization.

“The release of this updated instruction is very exciting, but it is by no means an end-state for us,” said Lt. Stephanie Miller, head of the Office of Women’s Policy in Arlington, Va. “We are constantly looking at new issues and ways to make sure we are doing the right thing for women and families in the Navy.”

Several other minor changes are incorporated. For information on these and other changes to the instruction, refer to NAVADMIN 157/07.

For more news from Chief of Naval Personnel - Diversity Directorate, visit www.news.navy.mil/local/cnp-diversity/.