Physician mothers say time off for maternity leave was insufficient

Maternity leave is a hot-button issue these days, and the vast majority of physician mothers in a small, new survey say the time they were able to take was insufficient. Most women — who were either practicing physicians or in a residency program — said they would have preferred twice the duration they received — three to six months — instead of the five to 12 weeks that was available, which was often unpaid. When it came to going back to work, many women said there wasn’t sufficient time allowed to pump breast milk nor were there proper facilities to do so. Some women also said they had trouble finding child care or faced discrimination. Paid leave, better pumping facilities, and on-site child care are the kind of support institutions can offer to help physician mothers “thrive in their careers,” the authors write.