Childbearing and Pregnancy Trends Among Female Plastic and Orthopedic/Trauma Surgeons in German-speaking Countries

Female surgeons face challenges when trying to balance family planning and surgical duties. Although US surgeons have been thoroughly investigated in terms of obstetric complications and perception toward pregnancy, information on surgeons in German-speaking countries is lacking.

A multicentric online survey was conducted to analyze female plastic and orthopedic/trauma surgeons from Germany, and plastic surgeons from Switzerland and Austria.

Mean age during first pregnancy was 33 years. More than one-third of all surgeons intentionally postponed pregnancy for professional reasons. About one-third of the German surgeons was banned from clinical work during pregnancy, whereas 6% of all Swiss/Austrian surgeons were banned. Accordingly, the Swiss/Austrian surgeons were operating more often during pregnancy. Obstetric complications ranged from 41% to 58%. The Swiss/Austrian plastic surgeons had the lowest complication rate. The rate of cervical insufficiency was approximately 4%, which was higher than in the general and US surgeons' population, whereas fertility issues and miscarriage were lower in German-speaking plastic surgeons.

Despite national maternity protection laws, obstetric complication rates of surgeons in German-speaking countries and the United States were similar. Cervical insufficiency was even more prevalent in the study population, which could be associated with an older age of the expectants. Therefore, those (strict) laws need to be reconsidered because a ban from surgery can lead to intentional postponement of pregnancy.