BALTIMORE — WMAR-2 News is your voice for veterans and over the weekend, veteran moms and moms-to-be received recognition.
Veterans and their families celebrated more than 30 newborns with a drive-through baby shower.
This was over at the Loch Raven VA Medical Center Outpatient Clinic.
New and expectant moms were given boxed lunches, cupcakes, and community-donated gifts like cradles and car seats to celebrate the new additions to their family.
Organizers say this event has been a long time coming.
"We actually had this event every year around mother's day weekend, and then COVID hit. And so everything kind of shut down from the VA. And so now as we're opening back up, and we're getting used to, you know, doing additional services and things for our veterans, the biggest thing was our baby shower. That was one of our biggest events prior to the pandemic," said Siobhan Kirksey, Women Veterans Program Manager.
One new mom called the event incredibly sweet of the VA to do, adding she's not surprised based on the experiences she's had with their maternity care team.
"When I moved here from California, I was seeing the maternity care team and the VA in California. Moving here, the transition was seamless. I already had a maternity care team before I even moved here. So I had a nutritionist, I had a pharmacist, I have a maternity care nurse and the team that's associated with that, including a social worker or a therapist if I needed it," said Dianna Kenner-Staves, veteran mom.
About 10% of all of America's veterans are women, about 2 million in all.