Pregnant in Med school

[elephante]

So  I found out I was accepted into Med school, and also pregnant, in pretty much the same breath. I am looking for advice from any person who has been pregnant in pre-clerkship: is it feasible? Sane? Or should I defer my acceptance one year? I would prefer not to do defer, as I am up in my thirties now, but if it’s what makes the most sense, I would consider it. For anyone wondering, I have an incredibly supportive partner who could take the parental leave. I am not worried about after, but am looking for experiences of being pregnant in Med school and how it was handled by you, the faculty, and the school.

[JohnGrisham]

Sounds like you have support, which is good. Congrats on the pregnancy with the assumption that it is wanted and/or you are happy about it! (i've learned not to automatically congratulate, as not everyone is in the same position!)
 
Honestly, if it was me, i would just defer a year. Starting two new things at the same time sounds unecessarily stressful. At least if you were pregnant and had the baby in M2 for example, you would have already gotten used to medical school.   It also would make the whole taking some time off  less administratively annoying, missing time from school for a short mat leave etc. Depending on how your school handles things it could mean having to miss blocks and or be delayed anyways(assuming you want to take some time off or not, not everyone does of course).

That said, how far along? If you're quite early and EDD is post Jan 2020, then perhaps that is enough adjustment time and not a big deal (especially if your school has decent amount of time off between MS1 and MS2).

[LostLamb]

Probably easier to do preclerkship while pregnant than clerkship, which sounds like the case it will be. That said, we had moms and moms to be in all phases of med school with all of them figuring out how to make it work. 

It might be worthwhile to speak with student affairs at your school and see how the timing of baby’s arrival corresponds with various academic activities and responsibilities. 

Amass as much info as possible then do a chart of pros and cons of starting now versus pros and cons of deferring for a year. Seeing it in black and white will help you find your way. 

Good luck!

[Medot]

This actually happened to me last year, although I found out about my pregnancy before receiving the acceptance. It was a difficult decision for sure but I ended up deferring for one year. My son is now 10 months and I'll be starting school in the fall. Thinking back I don't regret my decision. What I suggest is to make a list of pros and cons. Also, it helps to talk to the school if you have any concerns and gather all the information you need for decision making. If you want to know more about my experience feel free to PM me. In the end the decision will be yours, there is no right or wrong, just whatever works best for you and your family :)

Also congratulations on the baby and the acceptance! 

[insomnias]

Based on the experiences of a classmate who deferred due to pregnancy and doesn't regret it, I'd hop on the deferment train. Alternatively, if you feel you could do it, you could look at finishing the first block and then taking a leave of absence after that.

[JohnGrisham]

5 hours ago, insomnias said:

Based on the experiences of a classmate who deferred due to pregnancy and doesn't regret it, I'd hop on the deferment train. Alternatively, if you feel you could do it, you could look at finishing the first block and then taking a leave of absence after that.

It ends up being the same result timewise for end of med this way, downside is then you get behind your original class and join a diff class. Why not just wait then?

[NLengr]

I'd defer. 

 

Newborns are a metric ton of work, and I'm just a dad. My wife had it worse.

[bearded frog]

@Birdy

[Birdy]

I had my third child right at the end of preclerkship, took a week off, then returned to class. It wasn’t too bad, but I had a few factors going for me; my husband was taking parental leave, I’d done the whole baby thing before, and I was starting out clerkship with some electives that allowed me to work from home until my younger daughter was two months old. Plus I had basically the easiest delivery ever  

I graduated on time, which was my goal. But when I had my next baby right after I started residency, I took seven months off and holy cow am I glad I did because there is absolutely no way I’d have been able to work right away this time around. I had a spinal headache for two months (failed blood patching) and then I got knocked on my arse by an autoimmune disease - which tends to flare postpartum - and I’m struggling to make it through the days right now. So life can go in unexpected ways after having a baby and you may need more time than you think you will. 

It is possible to do it without deferring. That said, especially for a first baby (if this is your first, you didn’t say) when you don’t know how you’ll handle pregnancy and postpartum, allowing for the possibility of needing more time off is a good thing. You could start school, see how it goes, and then take a year off (most schools will allow that) but you can run into issues with financial aid/LOC in doing that, so tread cautiously.