I know there's no "good" time to have a baby in medical school or residency, but I was wondering what students and physicians thought the "best" time would ideally be for both pregnancy and having a newborn. I'm starting school next year and am big into planning in advance Initially we thought we'd wait until I graduated but I've heard residency is brutal and don't want to wait past first year of residency (I'll be 30 then and we'd like several children). Also, I'm somewhat concerned about interviewing for residency very preganant...I know there shouldn't be discrimination but would some people judge your ability to handle residency and motherhood? Also, would it be difficult to do rotations pregnant? aaaahhhhh, I just wish this were less complicated! :banghead:

anyone been pregnant during rotations? how did it work out?

in retrospect, i think the "ideal" time would be if you were able to take a year off between 2nd and 3rd year for research. many schools have this option and it seems like an ideal time. others have opted for 4th year, which is another ideal time once you get past the interviews. i'd rather be pregnant during the 1st 2 years b/c you're not on your feet as much, and your schedule is more flexible than the clinical years.

then looking into the future, some residencies have a research component, which would have been great for me had i not gotten married during that time period! as it is, i'm returning to my clinical residency in june as a pgy3 and scratching my head over when to get the family started...