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Drive-through baby showers serve needs of pregnant veterans in Atlanta

A pregnant military veteran receives a tiara at a drive-through baby shower run by the Atlanta VA Clinic. "We are very well aware of the maternal mortality statistics, which are terrible in the Southeast and impact Georgia in very high numbers," said Kathleen O'Loughlin, manager of the Atlanta VAs women veterans program. (Jess Mador/WABE)
A pregnant military veteran receives a tiara at a drive-through baby shower run by the Atlanta VA Clinic. "We are very well aware of the maternal mortality statistics, which are terrible in the Southeast and impact Georgia in very high numbers," said Kathleen O'Loughlin, manager of the Atlanta VAs women veterans program. (Jess Mador/WABE) A pregnant military veteran receives a tiara at a drive-through baby shower run by the Atlanta VA Clinic. "We are very well aware of the maternal mortality statistics, which are terrible in the Southeast and impact Georgia in very high numbers," said Kathleen O'Loughlin, manager of the Atlanta VAs women veterans program. (Jess Mador/WABE)

By Jess Mador / WABE 6 min read

When 28-year-old Navy veteran Carisma Carter pulled her car up to the front of the Atlanta VA Clinic, her seat was pushed far back from the steering wheel to make room for her big belly. Carter was eight months pregnant.

“I’m having two boys, twins. It’s my first pregnancy,” she said.

Carter knows the pregnancy risks she could face as a Black woman, especially in Georgia, where data shows Black women are more than twice as likely as white women to die during or within a year after a pregnancy.

“I take care of my body during the pregnancy, but, yeah, I’m very aware,” Carter said. “And I just try to stay positive.”

In 2021, women made up about 17% of the U.S. military’s active-duty force. And women are the fastest-growing group of veterans in the country, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.