Military Families

A dumb red cross question

My DH is deployed right now, but has been told he will most likely get to come home for 2 weeks when our son is born.  He said I need to call the Red Cross and have my Dr. give them a message about when she plans on inducing (I'm high risk due to preeclampsia).  Has anyone ever done this or does anyone know what questions the red cross is likely to ask?  I just want to be prepared and make it as easy as possible for my Dr., husband, and everyone else.  Thank you in advance! (& I know that it isn't guaranteed that he will get to come home, I'm just trying to do everything as correct as possible so he will have a chance)
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Re: A dumb red cross question

  • Red Cross will send the message after the birth. Not while in labor and not for a scheduled induction. That's my experience and the answers people have gotten on this board before.
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  • Our FRG posted basically the same info that LemonLover gave you.  They specifically said to not even call the Red Cross until after the baby is born because the message to your husband will include information about the baby. 
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  • Ok, good to know!  I'm guessing that my H & I have misunderstood something along the way.  Thank you for the answers!
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  • When I went through my training as a command Ombudsman, I learned the nurse or doctor will send a red cross message after birth not during labor.
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  • While what the above posters said is true 99% of the time, it depends on the situation.  If it's a situation that could possibly be a danger to the mother and/or baby, and you have enough advance notice of the delivery date, they might send the message.

    I was able to send a message when I was in preterm labor at 31 weeks, at the advice of both my OB and DH's CO.  Because they were so close to coming home for good anyway, and because of the risks to babies born 8-9 weeks early, they were able to send him home early (then go figure I lasted through 6+ weeks of preterm labor, hospital stays, etc, etc, etc, and delivered at full term, but nobody ever thought that would happen at 31 weeks).  They had to have the Red Cross message to even consider sending him home though, and luckily the message was sent with no problems at all. 

    If it's going to be an induction at, or close to, full term I doubt you'll be able to send a message.  But if you have enough notice, and it will be an induction early enough for NICU time to be a possibility, I would try and send the message anyway, if that's what your H's chain of command and OB are telling you to do.  Basically, you can start it (you need as much info about your H as possible, including SSN, unit, location, whatever you have), and they'll contact your OB to confirm the information. 

    ETA - I just noticed you're already 35 weeks, so you probably won't have any need to send a message, but hopefully the above helps someone else who might be reading this. 

  • imageLemonLover33:
    Red Cross will send the message after the birth. Not while in labor and not for a scheduled induction. That's my experience and the answers people have gotten on this board before.

    Not true. You can send what's called a pre-birth message, very helpful for those AD fathers trying to plan for their R&R. Our station doesn't send them often at all as AF deployments tend to not include R&R leave due to length, but I have seen several. It's up to your Red Cross as to whether or not they do them, but I have seen a TON. Also, they are frequently for scheduled inductions or c-sections or just the due date. You will need to give your doc permission to release your info to the Red Cross.

    If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. I'm a field office worker for the American Red Cross overseas and spend the majority of my time doing casework. If I don't know the answer, I can find it out. :) 

  • DH's Command tells every pregnant woman to call Rear D to let them know when an induction is going to be done.  They then instruct the woman to have her Dr call the Red Cross to put a message through.  If they can get the H home, they will do everything they can to do it.  They can not do it with out the message.
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  • Since you found out when you're being induced is there any way from him to schedule his R&R for then?  Just a thought, I know they usually schedule their R&R early on in the deployment, but you may have him ask his chain of command about this.
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