“When is the right time for a Doctor to start a family?”
Whether you make the massive decision to start a family or have a stork delivered ‘surprise’, there will always be lots to think about and plan.
For many Medics, there is never a perfect time to start a family and many feel they should wait until they are firmly established in a Consultant or GP job. Life and work is a roller coaster and, as one exam passes, another application process, exam or relocation often looms.
For those of us who are ready to dive head first into motherhood despite ongoing exams and interviews, we will find that somehow, magically, we manage to fit it all in.
The main points to consider and advice I’d like to share are laid out here….
1. Don’t wait until it’s too late! We have forty plus years to achieve our ultimate career goals but a much more limited time to have a family. Many people find that, having finished their last ever exam, they try for a baby and things don’t happen quickly. Be prepared for this and leave yourself a few years to ‘practice’.
Being pregnant and a Mother, balancing work and home, is exhausting! At the risk of sounding ageist, having youth on your side when trying to stop your tot eating your audit project is a bonus!
2. Unless you’re married to a millionaire, think about your finances! If you’ve been in Oz for a year, WAIT until you have 12 months NHS service so that you are entitled to your occupational maternity pay. It’s also helpful to have a little extra set aside if you plan to take more than 26 weeks maternity leave as your pay will drop considerably. Plus, baby paraphenalia is ridiculously expensive (and alluring!)
3. If you have a particular block of training you wish to complete before finishing up for maternity leave, liase early with your training director and try to bring it forward. Leaving work with everything tied up is a great feeling!
4. Speak to all the Mummy and Daddy Medics you set eyes on and ask their advice about everything! The amount of advice and opinion you are given while pregnant can become tiresome but often, between the old wives tales and over eager opinionism, you will pick up some little gems of wisdom. So keep listening!
5. Get exams done, if possible. If you are eligible to sit an exam and need to pass it to progress in your career, do it! It’s very easy to talk yourself into delaying exams, convincing yourself of your meagre baby brain’s incapacity and concentrating on your nesting instincts. Once your bundle arrives, you will wonder what you did with all your previous spare time. It is completely possible to study and work and be Mum but it is easier to get what you can out of the way
6. Maximise your free time…this comes from getting exams ticked off, buffing up your CV as talked about above but also little things like minimising any commuting and ticking off any burning jobs in the home.
