Apr 14, 2022
Army Preps Postpartum Soldiers for ACFT, Motherhood & Reintegration

postpartum

A recent story from DVIDSHub.net discussed what the Army is doing to cater to pregnant female service members through its Postpartum Physical Training Program (P3T) in preparation for the Army Combat Fitness Test.

Below is an excerpt from the DVIDSHub.net story about the Army’s re-emphasis on female service members during and after pregnancy.

With the new Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT), Soldiers must be physically strong and have the stamina to complete the tough events. The Pregnancy Postpartum Physical Training Program (P3T) is designed to help these Soldiers, not only get back into shape, but to help them through the process of reintegrating back into their units, and to help them navigate the struggles of being a new mother. Joint Base Lewis-McChord, having established a decentralized Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) resourced P3T pilot program with three units, will now be able to see how the programs are functioning.

“In my experience with this program, it feels like it is better for P3T participants,” said Spc. Sindy Baron, a unit supply specialist with the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 508th Military Police Battalion at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. “I feel like they’re more involved and provide more support and information to us to help us get back into shape and to navigate being a mom, especially for first-time mothers.”

On February 22, 2022, the post-partum Soldiers completed an ACFT. The goal was to provide a baseline of physical fitness to track the improvements over time to see if the program has improved the participants’ physical fitness levels. Postpartum Soldiers are in the program for six months, which allows them to track their progress over an extended period of time.

“My goal today is to pass as many [exercises] as I could and to focus on what I couldn’t do, to improve for next time,” said Baron. “This is my second child and I can already tell that this program has helped me improve tremendously. I feel like this program has helped me excel at my weak points. I was not able to do a leg tuck today, but now that I know what my weaknesses are, I can focus on those and try to do exercises that will help me pass the ones that I didn’t pass.”

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The difference between this Holistic Health and Fitness initiative and the regular Pregnancy Postpartum Physical Training Program is that they not only help the Soldiers physically helping with ACFT focused physical training, but they do courses on healthy eating habits through nutrition performance courses, breastfeeding classes to help mothers learn new techniques and other important classes for motherhood.

To read the full story from DVIDSHub.net about the military’s Pregnancy Postpartum Physical Training Program (P3T), click here.