Pregnancy during Residency

[StressedMedStud]

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Can you work as a resident while being pregnant? How easy/hard is it for psych residency?

What are typical work hours for psych residency?

 

[peppy]

As specialties go, psych tends to be pretty family friendly. At my program, we've had a number of pregnant residents who worked right up until their due date. Psych is not a physically demanding specialty and the hours are typically not that bad, so working while pregnant should be very feasible as long as you don't have any significant health issues during the pregnancy. There's always that risk of something happening like being put on bedrest or having hyperemesis gravidarum, but in a normal pregnancy, it won't be a big deal to work as a psych resident.

The exact work hours and the specific years that are good to have a baby will vary depending on the particular residency. Typically, your PGY-4 year will be a very light workload and at almost every psych residency that would be a good time to have a baby.
Usually the outpatient year has good hours and might be a good time to take leave as well, but apparently some programs interpret the outpatient requirements in such a way that they expect someone who takes a leave in the middle of outpatient to start the year of outpatient over in order to have a completely uninterrupted year of continuous outpatient exposure. That's not the way my program does things, but I've read on here that some places do that - so that's something to look into before planning a pregnancy during that year.

While certainly you have to do what's right for your situation and I definitely would not recommend putting off childbearing just because of how it affects others, if you are able to be flexible about the timing, I do think it's nice to consider how your absence will affect the other residents and try to avoid planning a pregnancy at a time when your absence will shift a significant burden onto the other residents. It caused some bitterness and resentment at my program when someone who went on maternity leave was perceived as trying to get out of work and taking advantage of everyone else. You don't want to be that person if you can avoid it.

 

[billypilgrim37]

Another thought is that if you know you're wanting to crank out a few little ones, you might think hard about larger programs. The bigger the program, the better chance that being one gal down won't break the call pool. We're pretty big, and we had two of our single ladies get knocked up intern year (we do not rank based on ability to use birth control, apparently), and we survived okay. My schedule wound up getting butchered more than others but one of them was one of my best friends (I am not the one that knocked her up, however) so I felt like I was just giving her a baby gift (this is how I had to rationalize it, anyway).

 

[notdeadyet]

Another thought is that if you know you're wanting to crank out a few little ones, you might think hard about larger programs.

Ditto this. I talked with someone who had a colleague that was breeding at a 4 person psych residency and that was really tough on everyone else. The larger the program, the smaller the impact.

How tough it is on your program is also highly dependent on how tight your class is. When everyone is friends (or something like it), folks tend to not mind taking on extra call for you. When you're casual colleagues, it's an imposition.

But at the end of the day, your family planning should be based on your family, not your co-workers. It's just a job.

 

[PikminOC]

Another thought is that if you know you're wanting to crank out a few little ones, you might think hard about larger programs. The bigger the program, the better chance that being one gal down won't break the call pool. We're pretty big, and we had two of our single ladies get knocked up intern year (we do not rank based on ability to use birth control, apparently), and we survived okay. My schedule wound up getting butchered more than others but one of them was one of my best friends (I am not the one that knocked her up, however) so I felt like I was just giving her a baby gift (this is how I had to rationalize it, anyway).

 

[vistaril]

Another thought is that if you know you're wanting to crank out a few little ones, you might think hard about larger programs. The bigger the program, the better chance that being one gal down won't break the call pool. We're pretty big, and we had two of our single ladies get knocked up intern year (we do not rank based on ability to use birth control, apparently), and we survived okay..

jesus......

 

[PikminOC]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume this is part of billypilgrim's dry humor.

Otherwise, vistaril and I are in complete agreement.

 

[annie501]

I had two children during residency. One at the end of second year/beginning of third year and the second halfway through fourth year. I cannot imagine how difficult it would be to have an infant at home during the first two years. It is so hard to leave a baby overnight, especially if you are nursing. Plus, new babies and intern year are both incredibly stressful on their own. I think you would have to be kind of nuts to combine them on purpose.
Childcare is difficult during residency. Daycare hours do not typically correspond with intern hours, and nannies are expensive. Of course, if your husband has flexible hours or makes a lot of money, or you have family around, this may not be as big of an issue for you as it was for me (my husband was also a resident at the time).
If you have any questions, PM me.
Also, take a look at this forum: mommd.com

 

[StressedMedStud]

I had two children during residency. One at the end of second year/beginning of third year and the second halfway through fourth year. I cannot imagine how difficult it would be to have an infant at home during the first two years. It is so hard to leave a baby overnight, especially if you are nursing. Plus, new babies and intern year are both incredibly stressful on their own. I think you would have to be kind of nuts to combine them on purpose.
Childcare is difficult during residency. Daycare hours do not typically correspond with intern hours, and nannies are expensive. Of course, if your husband has flexible hours or makes a lot of money, or you have family around, this may not be as big of an issue for you as it was for me (my husband was also a resident at the time).
If you have any questions, PM me.
Also, take a look at this forum: mommd.com

Thanks!!!!!!!!