Maternity leave for practicing family physicians

Approximately 37% of all medical students and 36% of family medicine residents in training in the United States are women. The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has developed a recommended parental leave policy for residents in training but has not established a similar policy for physicians in practice. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of maternity leave policies for practicing family physicians.

A 14-item self-administered survey questionnaire was designed and mailed to 940 AAFP members randomly selected from the total active female membership.

A 52% response rate was obtained. The mean age of respondents was 35 years. Only one third of the physicians not in solo practice reported having a stated maternity leave policy in their current place of practice. Academic programs, when compared with single specialty family practice groups, multispecialty groups and health maintenance organization (HMO) or preferred provider organization (PPO) groups, were more likely to have maternity leave policies and to provide salary on leave. Practice groups with eight or more partners were more likely to have policies that provided salary and benefits while on leave. Ninety percent of respondents requested maternity leave guidelines for practicing family physicians.

Women family physicians expressed strong interest in the development of maternity leave guidelines for their specialty. Guideline components are outlined.