Call the Midwife… Coast Guard Delivers Baby at Sea | gCaptain

OK, here’s a good one… I want to give a HUGE thanks to the USCG for this one and also give appreciation to all the rescue workers. They do a fantastic job and they are very welcomed by all of us seafarers for the help they give us when we need them.

In all my years out here I’ve very rarely seen any pregnant women out here. I think I’ve seen 1 recently (that I know was pregnant). In fact, its still pretty rare to even see ANY women out here. I’m on a rig right now for instance, and out of about 135 people aboard, there’s only 1 other woman. Most of the time, I see between 2-5 women on the ships I sail on now. That’s a HUGE increase from when I started sailing ‘professionally’ back in 1978, when I was almost always the only one aboard.

I wonder how long that ships hitch is? Why was she still working on the ship if she was so close to delivery?? I do think women should be able to work offshore (obviously). Even pregnant women. But I do have to say I have serious issues with women who are close to delivery time being on a vessel that they might not be able to get off of for weeks or even months at a time. My tuna boat crew had a minimum hitch of 18 months for the officers! The unlicensed crew stayed 2 years!! I don’t think its fair to either the ship, the rest of the crew, the owners, or even the woman herself to take a job offshore that could endanger everyone involved like that. Women DO need to take into consideration the risks involved to themselves, their fetus, and the ship and other crew as well.

Any other seafarers on here? Comments???