Childbirth resources for military families
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Baby blankets and quilts
Baby carriers
Baby showers
Breast pumps and supplies
Budget for Baby
Childbirth support
Doula
Essential baby items
Postpartum support and continuity of care
Baby blankets and quilts
Military Families Ministry
Baby blankets and quilts are sent to family readiness groups (FRGs) to distribute to expectant mothers whose husbands are deployed.
Baby carriers
The Carrying On Project
For generations, the practice of babywearing has made caring for children easier while helping them develop or maintain life-long bonds with caregivers. The goal of the Carrying On Project is to help get carriers to the families of our military so that they may better obtain secure attachments with their children, something that deployment and injuries will often interrupt. We seek to assist both the service members and the families left behind in “Carrying On” while both home and away, to make something that is difficult for the whole family a little bit easier
Baby showers
Jackson in Action Foundation - Military Moms Baby Shower (MacDill AFB, FL)
The Military Moms Baby Shower began in 2014 as the vision and passion of Lindsey Jackson who, at the time, was pregnant with the Jacksons’ first child. The Jacksons had moved to Tampa for Vincent’s NFL career, far away from their families and established network of friends, much like many military families are forced to do when orders change or deployments occur. Lindsey realized that many young military families were expecting a baby in a place where they didn’t have the support system that most first-time families enjoy. The annual shower provides these military families with an experience they might not receive otherwise, as many are stationed far away from family and friends who would traditionally host a baby shower for them. At the event, military moms are able to meet one another and establish connections that provide support to them and their families moving forward.
Themed each year as a Sunday brunch, 40 expecting or recently delivered military moms are invited to receive bundles of items to help them care for their newborn. Moms are either active duty or spouse/partner of active duty military personnel stationed at MacDill Air Force Base and local Coast Guard Air Stations. Best-selling child development book authors and parenting consultants, Moms On Call, are always present to speak words of encouragement to the young parents and answer questions about newborn care, sleep scheduling, and more. Every family in attendance takes home diaper bags full of essentials, as well as larger items such as a car seat, stroller, high chair, play yard and walker.
March of Dimes
Being far away from friends and family during a baby’s birth can be tough for military families. Mission: Healthy Baby®, our baby shower program just for military moms, provides free pregnancy and newborn health information, support services, and donated gifts so they have one less thing to worry about.
Military Assistance Mission (Arizona) - Baby Bundle Bash
Four times a year, MAM selects five expecting Arizona Service Members and/or their spouse to attend a baby shower hosted by MAM. Due to current circumstances, MAM’s Baby Bundle Bash will be virtual. Instead of a group baby shower, we will schedule a photo opp and bring your Baby Bundle Bash to your home. The purpose of this program is to ensure parents receive the essentials they need in preparation for their upcoming arrival!
North Coast Church (Vista, CA)
Are you expecting or just had a baby? The Military Connection ministry offers a baby shower every quarter for new moms. This is a fun opportunity to meet other new moms as well as receive some great gifts for your new baby.
WHO: Expecting military spouse or active duty military member
If you are expecting within two months or have had your baby and he/she is no older than two months, you are eligible for the shower closest to your due date.
If you are interested in registering yourself or a friend or would like to help at a future baby shower, email us at [email protected].
Operation Once in a Lifetime's Operation Baby Shower
Expecting a child is an exciting time. For most, this time includes a baby shower thrown by family and close friends. For a service member and/or their spouse, this isn't always possible as they spend years away from their loved ones, transferring from duty station to duty station. Operation Baby Shower was created to step in and assist with the makings of the almost perfect baby shower. Contact us to see how we can help make the expected arrival of your new little one a special event.
Operation Help A Hero
Operation Help A Hero is a public charity dedicated to the well-being and care of our American military members. Our programs support military units and families as they prepare for separation, while they endure the challenges of deployment, and as they transition back to the US. Our projects uplift our military heroes and send a clear message of support to their entire family. Operation Help A Hero connects communities with service members and provides real opportunities to make a difference in the lives of those who serve our country. We are an all volunteer organization. All board members and directors volunteer their time to focus all donations on our projects and the military heroes they serve.
Operation Homefront's - Star Spangled Babies
Operation Homefront provides exciting morale building opportunities through a variety of programs. This includes Star Spangled Babies, a baby shower hosted by local Operation Homefront chapters for expectant military spouses or female service members or those about to adopt, in the paygrades of E-1 through E-6.
Operation Shower
Operation Shower recognizes and honors the sacrifices military families make by producing and coordinating baby showers for expecting military personnel and their families. Operation Shower provides joyful baby showers for military families to ease the burden of deployment.
For military families who are expecting a new baby and are experiencing or have recently experienced deployment, we accomplish our mission through:
- hosting amazing baby showers
- delivering high-quality products
- creating a shared experience
- partnering with organizations to provide value-added services, such as health-related information
Operation Showers of Appreciation
Operation Showers of Appreciation is a non-profit tax-exempt organization, whose mission is to honor our military families in a unique way by showering them with gifts for their newborn babies, providing support during difficult times, and letting them know the many sacrifices of both the families and service members are appreciated.
OSOA does this by hosting and co-hosting large scale baby showers in honor of our local military and their families. We are a volunteer and donation based organization. All proceeds are evenly dispersed at our Annual Baby Showers.
Saddleback Church - Acts of Appreciation (Lake Forest, CA)
We are a military outreach ministry that looks for ways to extend God's love to our military and their families whether they are as close as Camp Pendleton or as far away as Afghanistan. We feel responsible to honor those who serve in the armed forces defending our freedoms. We respond with acts of appreciation that include newborn baby baskets, goody bags to troops deployed around the globe, hosting deployment and welcome home events at Camp Pendleton, sponsoring retreats, and much, much more.
San Diego Military Outreach Ministries (SDMOM)
SDMOM is an incorporated charity supported by churches, civic organizations, businesses, military members and private donors working with other nonprofit organizations. With a small paid staff of military wives and many volunteers, SDMOM provides helping services to thousands of enlisted families each year. All services are provided free of charge. Services include nearly daily distribution of food, furniture and household goods, children’s supplies and hosting holiday events, baby showers and family events.
SDMOM serves the junior enlisted military family (mostly ranks E-5 and below), typically headed by a 19-23 year old, with young children, away from home, and trying to survive in our expensive economy on a low salary while struggling with high debt and the family stresses of deployment.
Soldiers' Angels Baby Brigade
Soldiers' Angels Baby Brigade is a fun-filled team that provides virtual baby showers for expectant spouses of deployed service members and expectant spouses of post-9/11 wounded, ill, or injured service members and veterans by providing virtual baby showers.
In addition to a special gift basket from Soldiers’ Angels, our expectant mother will receive a virtual baby shower from Angels across the country. Our dedicated Team Angels not only shop for baby items to help the military family prepare for their new little bundle of joy but many also put their personal sewing and crafting talents to use and lovingly create handmade baby gifts, including blankets and booties.
To be eligible for this program, the expectant mother must be the spouse of a deployed service member or the spouse of a post-9/11 wounded, ill, or injured service member or veteran. They must be also within ninety (90) days of their estimated due date and must not have already given birth.
USO and What to Expect Present Special Delivery
The USO continued hosting baby showers for military parents-to-be around the globe virtually in 2020. Building on the success of nearly a decade hosting showers with Heidi Murkoff, the best-selling author of the “What to Expect” book series, and looking to reach more families of the nearly 100,000 military babies annually, these showers will now be available more often through USO locations and to new locations than previously supported.
Combining baby shower games, local guest speakers, and drawings for traditional baby shower gifts; the showers, hosted virtually or in-person when able, provide a touch of home for moms-to-be who are often away from their families, friends, and support networks during their pregnancies. In 2020, Johnson & Johnson joined the party as a presenting partner, supporting the Special Delivery program for all expectant military families. More than 13,000 expectant service members and military spouse parents have been served through this program since it was launched in 2013.
Breast pumps and supplies
TriCare
TRICARE covers breast pumps and breast pump supplies at no cost for new mothers, including mothers who adopt an infant and plan to breastfeed.
Budget for Baby (Marines, Navy)
Budget for Baby
The Budget for Baby program is operated entirely by volunteers, is designed to serve new, or prospective, parents who want to learn about the impact that a new baby can have on the financial situation of the family. Clients learn about variations in pay and increased expenses, common consumer pressures targeted to new parents, and entitlements available through both government and private sources.
The Layette is given to any eligible recipient who attends a Budget for Baby workshop or receives individual counseling. It consists of a coordinated set of bedding and clothing, a baby book, and a handmade gift from a Society volunteer, packed in an environmentally sensitive tote. To receive a layette, eligible clients should contact the NMCRS office closest to their duty station or residence to register for our Budget For Baby class or make an appointment to see a caseworker. This service is available at all NMCRS locations.
Childbirth support
Military Birth Resource Network
Military Birth Resource Network will provide a supportive network for military families by developing opportunities for women and their families to be a part of a network that provides pregnancy, labor and birth, postpartum, lactation, and parenting support.
Doula
Military Birth Resource Network - Helping Hands funding program
The Helping Hands program from the Military Birth Resource Network provides financial assistance for expecting military families and service members through the use of a Military Birth Resource Network birth or postpartum doulas. The purpose of this program is to help military families afford doulas through grants.
Operation Doula (San Diego, CA)
Operation Doula San Diego provides doula support at no cost to military families in the San Diego area.
Essential baby items for military families
MOM4USA (California)
If you are expecting your first baby, you may register to receive a Baby Care Package full of essential infant items.
Operation Homefront
Operation Homefront's Critical Financial Assistance program helps military families address critical financial shortfalls. Most often, this means assistance with mortgage payments, rent, utilities, car repairs, home repairs, overdue bills, critical baby items, and groceries. Learn more - LINK
Project New Hope (Worcester, MA, Westfield, MA, White River Junction, VT)
The mission of our Baby Pantries is to offer assistance for Military families in need of items to raise happy, healthy children. Our Baby Pantries are stocked with all brand new items, including clothing (size newborn to 5T), diapers, nursery essentials, baby food, formula and hygiene products.
Our Baby Pantries are open to all military personnel – active duty, Reserves, Guard, honorably discharged or retired Veterans and their spouses with proper dependent ID. Families may come in once per month to shop free of charge for their immediate children.
Postpartum support and continuity of care
Military Birth Resource Network
The Military Birth Resource Network has a mission to enable continuity of care by providing the necessary community, network, resources and awareness to our military families stateside and those stationed overseas.
Postpartum Support International
Military families face unique stressors that make them more susceptible experiencing perinatal mood disorders. Our Volunteer Support Coordinators are available to offer peer support, information, and resources for military families. Please contact one of our dedicated volunteers. You are not alone. Join us for our weekly online support group for military families!
PSI also offers a free military support group. Participants need to register to save their seat in the meeting. - LINK
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