Pregant in Med School?

[woolie]

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Does anyone know anyone who was pregant or had a baby while in medical school? I was talking to a friend about this recently and we were wondering if it was doable. Sometimes these things happen and you can't predict the timing of it ... 🙂

 

[surge]

A classmate of mine just sent out an email to the whole class today telling us she was pregnant. Most of us kinda knew before (this place is a rumor mill). She is married.
I think she is due at the end of May, so towards the very end of school year. We're MS1s.
I'm not sure how helpful this is, since noone yet knows how it will actually turn out, but I think it is definitely doable. Do keep in mind that the environment at each school might significantly play into how stressful it would be. At my school, it shouldn't be too big a deal, given that the classes are not mandatory, we have no exams and the administration is constantly bending backwards to help students out. Don't know about other schools, though.

Is it something you're thinking about, or....um?

 

[DrMom]

So far, 2 women in my class have had babies since we started (one during MS1, other during MS2). Neither one would say it is easy (not by a long shot), but it is doable. Both have truly wonderful husbands & extended family nearby to help out.

As a side note, they also both ended up in the hospital 4 weeks after the babies were born. One of them broke both of her elbows, the other had to have her gallbladder removed (it was pregnancy-related).

 

[canuck MD]

One of the ladies in 1st year gave birth the day she was supposed to start med school! Everything has worked out for her. In my class there are several folks with very young children. They make things work...not sure how, but they do!

 

[bnichols0330]

A good friend of mine in my class is pregnant. It is actually going to work out pretty well for her hopefully. We have a 4 week gap b/w our exams toward the end of our MS1 year. Her due date lies right in the middle of that break. She is hoping to go a week early or on her due date. That will then give her 2 weeks to recupperate and study for our last wave of exams.

I know it is doable, but I do believe it is tough.

 

[kaos]

It's all about your support system. If you have people around you who can help lots and LOTS, it's definitely doable.

 

[gwyn779]

I can think of 2 right now, one who had her baby the middle of 2nd year (crazy if you ask me), and the other who had hers the end of 4th year (slightly less crazy). So it's possible, but of course the key is your support system.

 

[beanbean]

My son was born this past August 30th - two weeks into my first year. I had to have a c-section and he ahd a few complications (1 month early w/ a slight lung infection). I returned to school 2 weeks postpartum. So far things are going well - I was given a no take on my first exam and depending on my performance for the year they will decide if I will need to make it up in the summer. I have done just fine on my other exams.

A few things have been key:

My husband is a saint - although he travels a ridiculous amount of time for business, he really makes up for his absences when he is home. He cooks, cleans, watches the kids, and gives great backrubs.

My parents live 3 mile away and help out alot. My dad is retired and picks up my 5 yo from kindergarten every afternoon. They also babysit to give my husband and I some time alone.

My nanny is absolutely fabulous. I was a stay-at-home Mom with my two daughters so this 'working' mom thing is all new to me. Without having someone like Theresa that I trust completely it would be very hard to be away the hours I am.

UCONN has been so supportive. My classmates, the faculty and deans have bent over backwards to help me succeed this year.

John is now 4 months old and is sleeping through the night. That has made a very big differnce in my sanity level. However, It is 10:00 PM and I am just about to open my books for the first time today.

Deirdre

 

[woolie]

Thanks guys, these are just awesome responses!

I'm not pregant right now but you know, we women think about these things ... and I am not getting any younger here 🙂

I was just thinking about when I was filling out my secondaries and alot of them said things like: "what do you consider to be your greatest achievement so far?" and I realized that the things I had thought were my great achievements, suddenly didn't seem so great compared to what I think being a parent would be. In other words, I would like to be able to say: "my greatest achievement is being a good parent to my children, and a good partner to my spouse."

I know it sounds corney, but I really feel it's true. And now standing on the threshold of one great accomplishment (medical school), I would like to round out my life with a family.

Beanbean, that is just great to read about your son - and I have so much respect for the YSM student. Yale is very family friendly too. Such an excellent school - thanks everybody for the feedback ...

 

[mnms]

there are two women in my MSII class who gave birth in the last 2 months. They bring their children to lecture, nurse them, the whole nine yards and still seem to keep up with all the work.

one lady was taking exams with 1 wk before her due date. she had to stand up and take the exam (under proctored conditions) cause it was too uncomfortable sitting. she passed, gave birth, and was back in class the next week sometime.

sheesh! these women are amazing. i sprain my ankle, and i take a week off!

 

[kaos]

Originally posted by mnms
there are two women in my MSII class who gave birth in the last 2 months. They bring their children to lecture, nurse them, the whole nine yards and still seem to keep up with all the work.

omg really? I didn't know we could do that.

 

[MSV MD 2B]

if you go to www.mommd.com, you'll find many women talking about this.
We have one woman pregnan due in June. I have one but with i would have tried for #2 due in the summer but we weren't thinking about it then. given the complications with my first pregnancy we're going to wait until 4th year.

 

[smartreader]

I've never heard of a pregant women in my life. Though I happen to have met a few pregNant women before.

 

[bullhorn]

Originally posted by smartreader
I've never heard of a pregant women in my life. Though I happen to have met a few pregNant women before.

You're such a smartreader! 🙄

 

[lowbudget]

Yeah, we have a couple of pregNant women at our school. Some were planned, others were not. It's better after 2nd year because you can schedule your rotations and take time off for maternity leave. We have a lot of fathers and mothers in our class. It's more than doable... and they range. Some are hard-core as hell because they have responsibilities while others are laid back as hell because they have other things that are more important.

 

[Gut]

I want to do GI... does anyone know about ERCPs when prego? I know the level of radiation is safe for the patient who is only exposed once but what about a clinician who does them over and over?

 

[Skills of House]

It's definitely doable. There is no one pregNant (couldn't resist keeping the trend 🙂 ) in my class, but someone in the year ahead of me is and I know a 4th year who was pregnant as an MS1 and she was first in her class that year and has remained so to this point.

 

[Tired]

Does anyone know anyone who was pregant or had a baby while in medical school? I was talking to a friend about this recently and we were wondering if it was doable.

Sure, all it takes is a little alcohol and a lack of contraceptives . . . just lie about being on the pill.

 

[doc901333]

I commute to med school, had twins, and my wife and I own a pharmacy so take this with a grain of salt. My wife gave birth to our twins a week before our head and neck exam in gross. This was Sept 30, 2003. We survived, but there were moments where we both wanted out. If we didn't have the little guys we would have split up. My wife and I love each other very much and the experience of parenthood/med school/owning a business has made our bond stronger, but sheer force of will, antidepressants and love for our children is the only way we made it. Unless you have a superb support system you will NEVER have a moment of peace or time for yourself for the first two years at least. My guys are 3 and still demand a great deal of attention. One of my favorite questions on the interview trail this year was when they asked about hobbies. My answers were all in the past tense because now I have none.
Now with all that being said, I am graduating in May at the top of my class, AOA, good boards, blah, blah, blah... so it can be done. It is just a matter of how much of you will be left when you make it out the other end.

 

[lilnoelle]

omg really? I didn't know we could do that.

I think it probably depends on how much of a distraction it is. It might work for some babies, but I would be hesitant to plan on doing that.
To me there is nothing more distracting that a cooing baby. If I were sitting next to a woman with a new baby, I wouldn't be able to pay attention to ANYTHING in lecture.

Oh, and I'm an M1 with an 18 month old and a 3 1/2 year old. I would say having one is definitely doable, but it would be hard for me to have another one. (Though I am considering it..... probably not though).

 

[Critical Mass]

I think it probably depends on how much of a distraction it is. It might work for some babies, but I would be hesitant to plan on doing that.
To me there is nothing more distracting that a cooing baby. If I were sitting next to a woman with a new baby, I wouldn't be able to pay attention to ANYTHING in lecture.

Oh, and I'm an M1 with an 18 month old and a 3 1/2 year old. I would say having one is definitely doable, but it would be hard for me to have another one. (Though I am considering it..... probably not though).

You should have another one. We need more lilnoelle clones.

😍

 

[lilnoelle]

You should have another one. We need more lilnoelle clones.

😍

ha, you should babysit my kids before you claim such a thing. 😀

 

[Dr. McDreamy]

a girl in my class had a baby last semester (MS2). All I can say is C-R-A-Z-Y!!!! i can't imagine anything worse than having a child in medical school. no one ever sees her. i think her husband is stay at home.

 

[Pinesinger]

My son was born two weeks into my fourth year. My school was very flexible in allowing me to schedule rotations to best suit me, I still even got my vacation month 🙂 There are four women total in my class who had babies during third and fourth year, all of us in the same rotation group by pure coincidence. It is certainly doable, if you can handle being pregnant during third year, fourth year is so easy that I think it's a great time to have a young child.

 

[Tired]

. . . I still even got my vacation month 🙂

You only get a month? Damn, I get 10 weeks.

 

[Pinesinger]

Well we have a month of "vacation" plus a month of "board study" since we are required to take Step 2 by August of fourth year. Plus 2 weeks off at Christmas which is right in the middle of a rotation, so I took my vacation then which gave me six weeks. God I love fourth year.