Last fall Christine Gold moved to Colorado from Georgia at the very beginning of her third trimester for a Navy PCS with her husband and their first-born daughter.

“It sucked,” she joked. “Being huge, tired, having to pee always. Especially with the altitude; it was so hard on my body.”

She struggled to find a healthcare provider that met her needs, and she didn’t want to waffle between providers and not receive the frequent medical checks and appointments she and her baby needed at the end of pregnancy.

The difficulties continued to stack up: she had to line up childcare for her daughter for when she went into labor, despite knowing no one in her new home and living many states away from her family and her in-laws; she had to find a pediatrician to take care of the baby after the birth even though she was totally unfamiliar with the base clinic.

Moving with the military is stressful enough, but PCSing while pregnant can add a whole different level of stress to the game.

Kimberly Davis, ombudsman for a U.S. naval submarine command in Kings Bay, Ga., said she refers all pregnant women who newly report to the command to Fleet and Family Support Center.  They offer free classes and can help situate new mothers with the supplies and resources they need to budget for children and parent little ones.

They also need to quickly get in touch with Tricare, she said, to find out what providers will take them in the area.

“If they are in a different region, they will have to enroll in the new region, anyway, so it’s probably easier to have her talk to Tricare, anyway, to get all of those things worked out at once,” Davis said.

Megan Correa is the director for MOM4USA, a military outreach ministry that serves lower enlisted military families at Camp Pendleton and the surrounding Southern California area.  MOM runs a monthly food drive for military families in need, as well as provides free donated items when they can.

Correa also refers to many military-sponsored family support resources, including Navy-Marine Corp Relief Society and their “Budget for Baby” class, where new parents are provided with clothing, blankets, coupons, and other necessities.

She also has families contact WIC, Headstart, and other government agencies that can make sure new mothers new to the area get their physical needs met.

Her organization also gives away a layette set to expecting parents who contact her.  She saves lots of reading and other resources to send to new mothers, and a lot of the family readiness organizations and the base chaplain contact her to see what she can do for new families, most ranked E1 through E5.

“With the economy tanking, we don’t have as many baby items, baby furniture,” she said.

But when she gets some in, she contacts the family readiness organizations to find them a home.

She recommends new parents who have just PCSd get involved as soon as they can with the family readiness groups and other local ministries.  Those organizations often lobby to help pregnant mothers get what they need.

Sharon Gerdes, vice president of Post-Partum Support International, recommends pregnant mothers not just prepare for the baby to come but for the possible complications that can arise post-partum, as well.

Military wives can be more susceptible to post-partum depression, anxiety, and other mood and anxiety disorders associated with the post-partum period.

Military spouses who PCS right into a deployment situation, like many do, risk being isolated during the birth of their child, being away from family, friends and their spouse.

Women who give birth without their partner are twice as likely to experience post-partum depression, Gerdes said.

PSI has a group of military coordinators who can help pregnant and post-partum women find help in their region and within their specific branch; they’re specifically trained to help military spouses.  They also have free support via the Internet and telephone.

Gerdes recommends getting in touch with some kind of support once you’ve moved, but before the baby is born.  Someone who can take older children to their activities or school.  Some other families to help bring you meals, or someone to come hold the baby so you can take a nap.

“Schedule as much as you can in advance,” she said.

Gerdes said if you’re not sleeping, feeling weepy, overly anxious, or having visions of harming yourself or others, you should seek help.

Even if something just isn’t right, you can call Post-Partum Support International or get in touch with local resources you found before pregnancy.

“The mental health of mom is important for the health of baby,” she said.