Pregnancy in medical training. An American vs Kiwi perspective

I am often asked by colleagues in the US about some of the differences I have noticed between working in the US vs New Zealand. There have been so many differences, some subtle, some glaring, that come to light so often that every time I think of finally writing about them, they seem too numerous and often difficult to articulate. I put it off for another time. Over the course of my time here in Aotearoa, I have had very interesting conversations. People genuinely want to know why I came, what my training experience was compared to how training is here. One observation I've made of a stark difference between the professional experience here vs the USA is how pregnancy in medical training is managed.

One thing that Auzita asked me to add that she forgot to mention was the question of how supported are pregnant residents in taking time out of their day to attend to their own prenatal care needs, and pumping breastmilk postpartum.

Per her, taking an afternoon off to go see your midwife or get blood work is not questioned. It is simply accommodated and pumping is supported postpartum as well. I will say that when speaking with many doctors who were pregnant residents, that is not always the case in the US. Protected time for pumping was not provided when I was an intern, and as a chief resident I was able to fight for it more, but it was usually interrupted or I was busy charting while pumping which definitely affected my supply. Many complain about being made to feel bad if they had to leave to attend to their own needs or it they encountered complications in their pregnancy that forced them to miss time off work.

We do not purport to represent the experiences of every single inch of either country, but as I mention in the videos, our experiences are very much accurately representative.