CRNA school and pregnant

[Brittany.Marie]

I will be starting CRNA school (3-year doctoral program) this fall and thought I would get some opinions on having a baby during the first year of school.

Background: The program switched from a 2-year master’s program to a 3-year doctoral program last fall, so their really isn’t any insight from current SRNA students who have gotten pregnant during the program. However, from what my Mentor has told me, the first year of the doctoral program “eases" you in versus the original master’s program. This doesn’t mean the program is easy in any means. The first year of the program consists of the classroom and all the classes will be taken place on one day for both fall and winter semester. In fact, you could work contingent for the first year of school if you wanted to and some of my classmates will be still working full or part time. There are many students who have kids and newborns that are in my program and the university I am going to is a tight knit community and family oriented. My Mentor had a 6-week newborn at the start of CRNA program and currently now has a 1 and a 3-year old.

Due to the new 3-year doctoral program, I thought I would gain some insight from Residents at the hospital I work at that are currently pregnant. I asked the Residents what it’s like to be in a constant state of stress while being pregnant, what year of residency are they currently in, how much more residency/fellowships they have, how it is being on your feet all day, how do you feel about leaving their baby and still working, etc, etc. I feel that residency and CRNA school are comparable and from what I’ve gathered, they all said that:

1.) There is never a good time to have a baby when trying to become a doctor or when you are an attending. In fact, their is never a good time in general to have a baby, you just have to do it. You will adapt to the situation. You will make it work.

2.) Most don’t want to be 37 and have their first child due to the fact that they have already given up so much of their time to help save the lives of others. Most were in their fourth year of surgical residency and afterwards had 1 more year left of residency and their 3 years of fellowship left.

3.) It’s no cakewalk being pregnant, but if you were extremely active beforehand it’s not as bad... however, you are still tired, still struggling at times, but you must continue on, you have no choice!

4.) You must have tons of family support... this is a must have! It takes a village to raise a child!

5.) Yes, of course it will be tough missing the first couple of years, including all the milestone moments, BUT, if you plan on having another child in the future you can still relish all of that, just not with your first. This is a sacrifice that you must be okay with.

6.) Their spouse is very supportive and willing to take on the dominant role of raising their child.

I believe I have the support I need in order to have a child during the first year of school. I am already making this sacrifice to better the lives of our family, our future, and will be making life so much easier in long run. In this scenario, I believe you have to think of the long-term goal, because yes, the short-term will suck. Will I miss out on “milestone” moments... yes, but I have been their for all the births and milestone moments for my nieces and nephews. My two Sisters (one who is a FNP and the other who runs her own company) have missed out on “milestone” moments, because they both state,"you simply can’t be there for all of them." Does it hurt that they weren’t there for his or her "first walk”, “first word”, etc? Yes, but their spouse or family member was there, and it was on video. Even though I will be a first time mom, I have experience with raising children. I’ve been around my Sister’s kids since I was 16 and went above and beyond for my Sister. I nannied my Sister’s 3 children while getting my nursing prerequisites and during the first year in nursing school. During the second and third year of nursing school, I had a part time nurse tech job on nights. Also, before deciding on nursing, I played collegiate volleyball for 2 years before tearing my shoulder. During all those experiences, I had all A’s and B’s. I feel that in general the more tasks/work I have, the more I can focus and get work done.

I feel that I do have the personality that can handle having a child during the first year of school and my Husband is mentally tough as well. We will have the family support we need and He is all for having a child and taking on a more dominant role as a parent.

However, for argument’s sake, what is your opinion on having a baby during the first year of CRNA school? Do you know of anybody that successfully tackled this feat?

[CRNA, DNSc]

What if you have a difficult pregnancy? What if you have to go on bedrest for weeks/months? There are still limits to "work arounds". What if you don't get pregnant until late in the first year and then you are into the fulltime/clinical portions! All things to consider, might still be worth waiting for graduation.

[Brittany.Marie]

This is true and my Husband and I discussed this with each other. I spoke with my OBGYN and did all the necessary testing and we are still waiting for a couple of test results to come back. If everything comes back normal then we would try for the next 3 months to get pregnant. After that, not even going to try due to the second year of school being crazy out of control with clinical hours. I understand fully that their is a lot to consider before making a final decision on stepping forward and trying to get pregnant. I appreciate your input!