Four years ago I nominated Mrs. Robyn Roche-Paull for The DAISY Award for the support she provided to me and my daughter. It was extremely well deserved when she was awarded it. I’m recommending Mrs. Roche-Paull for the award again as she continues to provide levels of care well beyond her responsibilities. Since I met Mrs. Roche-Paull I have PCS’d two times. After giving birth to my son 9 months ago I again needed assistance with nursing. Arguably on a larger scale this time as I was provided with an opportunity to deploy 3 months post-partum. This was a huge career opportunity that I wanted to be a part of but I had immense concerns about my ability to breastfeed and maintain my milk supply for my son. Prior to deployment, I met with our local lactation consultants who assisted me but ultimately shared the hardships that a deployment could have on a nursing mom. When this occurred I reached out to Mrs. Roche-Paull who quickly assisted me in every way possible to ensure that I could not only have a successful deployment but also continue to be a nursing mom. Among the things she did to help me prepare for my deployment were: educate me on ways to increase my milk supply and store excess milk, help me research and weigh out the benefits of various breast pumps used in deployed settings, talk to me about milk storage and shipping options, teach me how to hand express in the event this was necessary, speak to me about cultural differences of breastfeeding and being a nursing mom in a deployed environment, and help me process being the only woman and having to find time/space to pump. Breastfeeding while deployed was a very challenging experience. From pumping on convoys, flight lines, on long flights with no privacy, and just finding time to pump it was an emotionally and physically hard process. But I succeeded largely because of Mrs. Roche-Paull. To further emphasize just how much Mrs. Roche-Paull helped, upon my return, she provided me with consultation on how to re-introduce the breast to my son. While he had exclusively received breast milk he had become fond of the bottle. Ultimately he chose to stay with the bottle which meant I had to become an exclusively pumping mom. This has posed a whole different set of challenges that Mrs. Roche-Paull has helped me navigate. The Army is moving forward with tremendous strides by allowing women to fulfill duties and responsibilities in arenas that have historically been filled by men. There are challenges that come along with this, especially for nursing post-partum moms who want to continue to focus on their careers. It is professionals like Mrs. Roche-Paull who are going to be the reason that women can succeed in these expanding roles. There is so much opportunity for good that can come from the expanding roles of female service members, and it is providers like Mrs. Roche-Paull who are there making sure these service members are supported and have the resources to succeed.

Note: This is Robyn's 2nd DAISY Award!