Medical training coincides with the time when many are considering starting a family. As psychiatrists, we recognize the importance of supporting parental physical and mental health not only for the sake of our residents, but for their infants, for families, and, in the long term, for society more broadly.

Starting a family during residency entails significant challenges, particularly for women. The Stanford Psychiatry Residency Training Program strives not only to acknowledge these challenges but to actively reduce the inequity faced by women who are pregnant or have babies or young children during residency.

We consider the work of pregnancy and the postpartum period aligned with the aims of psychiatry overall, and we note the overlap between understanding the psychic care of an infant and the work of a practicing psychiatrist, many of whose patients can be well understood by developmental models. In recognition of this, the program will meet with each individual as part of the FMLA process to understand and attempt to honor any unique needs or accommodations, for example: lactation considerations, accommodation of work hours, temporary adjustments in job duties, consideration of remote work options, phased return-to-work programs, and access to mental health support services.