Pregnancy in first year of Fellowship

[consciousflounder]

Hi
I just found out I’m pregnant and will be starting fellowship in July. Baby due around Nov. Very nervous. Has anyone done this before? Pregnant in first year of a clinically heavy fellowship. How hard will it be?

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[NewYorkDoctors]

Good luck. I have XY chromosomes so I do not know what you will be experiencing.

Does your program have night intensivists (so no night duties needed for the pulmonary fellows for the most part)?
Do you have to do 24 hour call?
How much intubating do you have to do yourself? (never know if you'll be around COVID or TB)
How much IP do you do in first year? (i.e. how much fluoroscopy are you around?)

Maybe speak to your PD about rotating around certain rotations and also planning how your maternity leave now rather than later? I mean they cannot terminate your match based on this. It's better to talk sooner than later of course before the rotations get set.

 

[chessknt]

There is the home aspect (eg what kind of support do you have at home for a new baby, is this #1, how far is fellowship from help etc) and the fellowship aspect.

From the fellowship side plan on letting the program know once you get past the anatomical scan. Try to let them know before scheduling about this so they can try to plan the maternity leave component in the first draft of the schedule since it is a major pain in the ass to have to go back and re-do the whole thing. Also figure out what that maternity leave is going to look like (state/facility policies) and if you want that entire amount of time--too much time and your fellowship will have to be extended.

 

[Student3322]

It may be worth it to extend fellowship by a 3-6 months instead of cramming things in alongside having a newborn. You can talk with your PD about this option.