I would have been fired this week if I didn’t own my own practice... Monday as I was stepping out of surgery I got a call that my daughter had a fever & cough- she looked miserable when I picked her up but instead of my undivided attention she got a mom mentally playing Tetris w her packed schedule the following day. I immediately drove her to get a PCR Covid test which came back negative. But then my son starting throwing up that evening- I think it was the suspicious turkey sandwich for lunch- I hadn’t had time to restock the fridge. Tuesday was a cluster of bouncing between clinic & home to watch my daughter while my husband hid in a closet to do telehealth appts. The rest of the week was total chaos between managing school schedule, work schedule, soccer practice, swim team, Zoom meetings, presentations with 2 of 3 kids sick at home w multiple night time wakings. Every. Single. Parent. goes through this. I’m not special. But I am in one way. I don’t answer to anyone in my practice. Yes some patients get miffed but most understand & I definitely don’t fear losing my job bc of my commitment to my family. Here is the kicker- I “lost money” this week bc I basically saw no patients but had the same overhead. I’m Ofcourse ok with this. BUT- If you work at a big corporation- the company loses very little if not anything on your absence. They have the resources to make things function while you are gone- or at least they should have this infrastructure. So why then are young women penalized for planning a family, being pregnant and taking care of that family? Is it any surprise we are the only modern country with no paid leave after having a child? No. Not to me it isn’t. We don’t value family planning and what it takes to raise a family. We don’t value anything outside of work. It’s taboo to discuss our struggles “balancing” and it’s looked down upon to take time for ourselves and our families. We don’t care at all about a woman’s mental health during the post partum period, let alone the child’s development early on while their parents work. (CONTINUED IN COMMENTS 🔽🔽🔽)