A mother and her newborn daughter snuggle following an evaluation of the infant at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Okinawa, Japan, in 2023. The Defense Department will now cover the costs of shipping breast milk during PCS moves, according to new policy. (Beth Holliker/U.S. Air Force)
The costs of shipping breast milk during service members’ moves will now be covered under a new Defense Department policy aimed at curtailing out-of-pocket expenses for military families.
The Pentagon will reimburse up to $1,000 for such expenses, according to the policy issued this month.
The policy allows “the breastfeeding service member to ship that milk back to the previous, permanent duty station where the dependents still are,” said Christopher Woods, policy branch chief at the Defense Travel Management Office.
The benefit applies to service members who are breastfeeding children up to 12 months old and covers a range of expenses associated with transportation of breast milk such as dry ice, commercial shipping and excess baggage fees, DOD said in a statement Tuesday.
Family members often have to travel separately to new assignments, which means breastfeeding parents may be separated from their children, Woods said.
Even when not separated during moves, military families still can face costs associated with the storage of breast milk for long car rides or international flights, DOD said.
“The fact is that this milk must be stored in a cold environment, and service members are having to purchase things like ice and dry ice in order to keep the milk frozen or cool,” Woods said in the statement.
Service members seeking reimbursement must obtain authorization included on their orders prior to incurring any breastfeeding expenses, DOD said.
DOD said the policy change aligns with a recent revision in federal law that requires employers to create accommodations for breastfeeding parents.
Frequent moves are a mainstay of military life, with families packing up every couple of years for new assignments. DOD said more than 400,000 service members change duty stations each year.
