I'm starting my residency in July and I'm having my first baby in December. I recently told my PD and he wants to know how much maternity leave I would like to take. They can accomodate up to six months. How much maternity leave did you guys take and were you happy with it?

I took about 10 weeks and thought it was a good amount. I think I could have gotten by with less time off, and probably for my next will take only 6 weeks. When I did go back it was actually kind of nice to have a regular schedule and feel useful at work. I think the best option for me would be to take 6 weeks and then go back to an easy or call free rotation for a couple of months.

It will probably be different for everyone though

I took 3 months with my first and 4 months with my second. I was happy with both. My second had some medical issues so I was really happy to have the extra time. Ideally I would have wanted to take 6 months off though Congratulations, good luck, and take as long as you can possibly afford to take!

To some extent, I think it depends on what you're going back to after maternity leave. I took 14 weeks with my son and after that was doing 30ish hours/week of autonomous research ... 14 weeks was probably too many under those circumstances. This time around, I'm taking 12, but jumping back into wards at 12 weeks. Blech.

I took 4 weeks "off", then 8 weeks research-from-home. Starting back to the expectation of full time work, even from home, at 4 weeks was unfortunate. My plan for next time: 3 months fully off, then 2 months 60% time, 2 moths 70% time, then 80% indefinitely after that... (where 80% in my field / stage of training = 40h/wk).

How did you guys manage to get such flexibility in your schedules as residents?! I am due with baby #3 during intern orientation- my plan is to take 6 weeks off then return to regular schedule. After 4th year, I'm ready to get out of my house!!

I am due with baby #4 in September. I plan to take 6 weeks off as well but i think I'd like to add 2 more weeks to that. Unfortunately, I'll only be paid for a couple of weeks and the rest will have to be leave without pay. That's not a big deal though. The issue is that I was told that if i take off more than 6 weeks (ACGME rules)then I'll be graduating off-cycle which could affect fellowship applications and job recruitment cycles. How true is this? I am interested in applying for a fellowship after residency.

I have been told that if you take ANY time beyond use of your vacation that you will be off cycle. I think the year you have a new baby is the year you will most need vacation time so I am using fml time (max 6 weeks at 3/4 pay) and finishing off cycle. I have definitely been warned that that can be a big problem if you want to enter a fellowship immediately. But, this has to be super common right??

Check into your specialty's specific rules because I think it varies. For anesthesia the ABA states that you can miss a total of 60 days during your three years of anesthesia. That includes vacation days, sick days, and interview days as well as any maternity or extended leave you take for any reason. You must extend your residency by that amount.

We get 15 days of vacation per year, so that is 45 days already and when we have another baby I will certainly want more than 15 work days.... So I am already assuming I with either have no vacation any other years or extend residency. More likely the latter

As for fellowships, this must not uncommon but I bet different programs look at finishing late differently and some are probably much more understanding.

I took 8 weeks. It was far too short. I'd take the six months. That gets you through the recommended period of exclusive breastfeeding and really takes the pressure off as far as trying to maintain a milk supply while pumping. Pumping at work is HORRIBLE.

Honestly I think it would have been easier for my program to just figure out how to staff the semester without me than for them to have to stretch around and adjust and get coverage and whatever while waiting for me to get back.

Yes it is super common to end off cycle. Five of us in my graduating residency class are doing so (three with babies, one late starter, and one with a licensing delay). Some fellowships will accommodate, if it's a lot of time you can just take locum tenens work or have a nice long (unpaid) vacation until your fellowship starts. Maybe it seems like a big deal now but in the future you may feel very differently about the relative value of having that time with your baby vs finishing residency six months earlier.

I am not in residency, but I thought 8 weeks was enough with my first one. I work 65+ a week at work. I plan to take the same amount of time with my next one. I would imagine if you are working 80 hours a week, that would make things a bit different since you would really not have a whole lot of time seeing your baby once you go back to work.... It was weird. When I was at home, I was going stir crazy. Once I started working, I was going crazy not to be with my baby.

Assuming a successful interview season, I'll be starting a prelim or transitional year before radiology residency this coming academic year. Is it possible to have a baby during that year and still make it to my radiology residency the following year? I feel like this is a question I can definitely not ask programs!

@astrisize - Hmmmm. That's a tough one. So, in theory, it should be possible... assuming you have an uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery, and are willing to take very little maternity leave (as in, 2-3 weeks - maybe as much as 4.5 weeks if you use all vacation and sick leave all at once - and then, of course, never get sick again for the rest of the year). The question is how much you're willing to accept (1) the risk that the pregnancy does not go as planned, and (2) having your baby with that little flexibility.

It's also possible that if this all happens once you're already matched into both programs, then they'll be ok with you eg finishing your transitional year a few weeks or a month late and starting the next program an equivalent amount late. But.... it's a gamble.

That's a tough one!!

I took 6 weeks. I wasn't in residency, I was doing research and working 12hr shifts in the cardiac surgery ICU. I worked until I had contractions at work at 39w, luckily 2 of us worked in the ICU and the patients were stable that night. I think it depends on you, I was bored at home and loved going back to work. I also had a very easy, peasy delivery.