Pregnancy During Orthopaedic Surgery Residency: The Iowa Experience

Family planning is a challenge for physicians at all stages of their careers, but particularly difficult during residency. Residency commonly occurs during prime childbearing years and is associated with long work hours and inflexible schedules. A commonly cited deterrent for women entering orthopaedic surgery is the inability to achieve a healthy and fulfilling work-life balance.¹ Further, those women who pursue starting a family during residency have been shown to have higher rates of pregnancy-related complications including infertility with complications rates as high as 30%.^2,3 In a recent AAOS article, a call to action for modified policies to prioritize the health of pregnant orthopaedic surgeons and their unborn children was made to decrease the overall risk to women who wish to have children during residency and early practice.⁴ The University of Iowa has a history of attracting women into the orthopedic training program. We asked past graduates of the University of Iowa Orthopedic Residency program who had children during residency to share their personal experiences and opinions. We asked past graduates to answer five questions surrounding their pregnancy during residency. We have included the good, the bad, and the ugly with real-life testimonies in hopes that despite the statistics, women in our field considering pregnancy will find comfort in those that have been through it. Four prior residents were kind enough to share their experiences. Dr. Sarah Schippers (SS) completed residency in 2021 and is currently finishing a hand and upper extremity fellowship and will soon be starting private practice in Kansas. She shares on her experience regarding two pregnancies during residency. Dr. Tina Hajewski (TH) completed residency in 2021 and is also currently finishing a spine fellowship and will soon be starting private practice in Washington, sharing on her experience having two children during residency. Dr. Elizabeth Weldin (EW) completed residency in 2018 and is a current hand and upper extremity attending in Oklahoma and shares her experience having a child during residency and the contrast to having children during practice. Finally, Dr. Heather Campion (HW) completed residency in 2012 and is a current hand and upper extremity attending in Oregon and shares her experience as being the first Iowa orthopaedic resident to have a child during residency. Level of Evidence: V.