Sir,
I found the article by Subramanian et al. on marriage and career issues immensely relatable and would like to extrapolate the issue to motherhood.[1]
The hurdles of the race to become an anaesthesiologist has led to the increase in the marriage age, pushing majority into the category of elderly primigravidas.
The challenge starts while resuming work after delivery. ‘Child-care responsibilities’ is cited as one of the reasons for observed gender disparity in anaesthesiology leadership and faculty positions.[2] Anaesthesiologist mothers look after the critically ill patients in the intensive care unit, leaving their own heart throbs under the care of nurseries/day-cares. Every night is night on call taking care of the babies and trying to catch up the daytime lost. Yet, the next morning they are active and alert managing patients in the best possible way, making one believe in superpowers on the strength of indefatigability and composure.[3]
All days are not the same; children do get sick and have falls, which are part and parcel of growing up. The night on-call duties take a toll.
Every time the mothers leave for their professional call, they pray under the breath for the child's safety and good health, negating the negative thoughts of the possible scenarios like foreign body aspirations, etc., which are managed every day.
The goals add on as the child grows up.
All in all, anaesthesiologist mothers are superwomen balancing all spheres of life.[4] The motherhood in the life of anaesthesiologists is a happy roller-coaster ride.
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Conflicts of interest
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REFERENCES
- 1.Subramanian S, Chavre PP. Marriage and career issues. Indian J Anaesth. 2021;65:87–8. doi: 10.4103/ija.IJA_1570_20. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Bosco L, Lorello GR, Flexman AM, Hastie MJ. Women in anaesthesia: A scoping review. Br J Anaesth. 2020;124:e134–47. doi: 10.1016/j.bja.2019.12.021. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 3.Kurdi MS, Katikar MD, Ahuja V, Sharma R. Striding towards the pinnacles of professional growth, scientific epitome, and leadership: India's women anaesthesiologists. Indian J Anaesth. 2020;64:739–42. doi: 10.4103/ija.IJA_1116_20. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 4.Shamsher S. Are doctor mothers the Superbeings. An autoethnographic reflection? J Basic Clin Appl Health Sci. 2019;2:153–5. [Google Scholar]