The Army mother,Emma Cuevas wanted to be released of her duties so she could
breastfeed  her daughter, Isabella Blaney.  The Army let her do that but says
she also must do what taxpayers spent nearly half a million dollars training
her to do : fly Black Hawk helicopters. Both she and her husband were West
Point grads in 1993. She contents that the service's policy unnecessarily
places military interests over that of families like theirs. She told the Air
Force Times "Just like women deserve maternity leave, they deserve to be able
to feed their children" . She said her attitude toward her job began to
change while she was pregnant. She said"I made a commitment to the Army and I
understand that, but the commitment I made to my daughter I cannot change".
After Isabella was born, Cuervas' commander allowed her  to stop flying
 while breastfeeding the infant. For 5 months she fed Isabella pumped
breastmilk "but it started to bother me". She said her unit supported her,
but she feels unable to balance the demands of child and her career. Cuervas
twice requested a discharge or a transfer to National Guard- both requests
were turned down.
The Army contends that Cuevas incurred an obligation through May 3, 2000 and
must fulfill it. The couple's claim that medical experts believe
breastfeeding is the best way to feed newborn children, her request for a
discharge "provided no medical justification to warrant approval" according
to the denial she received Dec. 26 (1996?)
While her review was pending before Army personnel officials, they hired a
civilian lawyer, Gary Myers of Washington Dc.Myers said"It's important to
understand that this is not just Cuevas' case, it's the baby's case too".
Myers focused his efforts "on getting the Army to allow her to resign or be
granted a temporary suspension of duty while the child required
breastfeeding".
This is part of a longer article that appeared in the Air Force Times, I
believe Feb. 10 1997. I have the article in front of me.  Please bear with me
as I tried to quickly  pull as much info as possible from the article without
retyping it all. The next week's issue has opinion letters that date 1st
article as such.
I will be interested to see what Dateline has to say. I did not know there
was an outcome and public tv appearance before this.
Kim Joy
Air Force Wife, Mother of 3 and La Leche League Leader