Advice to pregnant surgical residents

"Motherhood has been the biggest gamble of my adult life thus far. How was I going to operate for 12-plus hours while 39-weeks pregnant? Where would I be when I went into labor? How would was I going to return after three weeks? How would I pump during and in between OR cases?

I did it. It certainly wasn't easy. And I would do it all over. My son is beautiful and healthy. I've never been prouder of anything I've ever done. He is the first thing I think about in the morning and the last thing I think about at night. He's made me a better clinician and surgeon."

Lauren A. Umstattd is a facial plastic surgery fellow.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Advice to a pregnant surgical resident." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2019/10/advice-to-a-pregnant-surgical-resident.html)