Permission to Pause: Pregnancy, Leave, and Rethinking Your Timeline

In this episode, the host, Amanda Quijano, sits down with Kristin, a fourth-year emergency medicine resident and new mom. The two discuss Kristin’s experience having her first baby during residency and how the physical stress of pregnancy forced her to change her original plans for leave and graduating on time.

They explore the inherent feelings of guilt associated with acknowledging the physical limitations of being pregnant and how this is antithetical to current ideal of what it takes to succeed in medicine. They also discuss how, despite the fear of being perceived as being behind and the potential optics of delaying graduation, her program’s supportive culture, proactive communication about leave, and a standard policy eliminating third-trimester overnights helpe to reduced that stigma and guilt, even as ACGME/ABEM rules constrained potential accommodations.