u/CaffeineStorm

I don't really buy into the idea that most of the current declining birth rates is because of financial instability and lack of housing or resources.

I think one of if not the biggest contributing factors is that on a global scale, women now have much more financial independence, agency, and control over their own bodily autonomy, than at any point in human history. They now have the ability to decide whether or not to get pregnant or become mothers, and when presented with the choice, a large proportion of women chose not to.

My social circle includes a lot of woman in their 20s and 30s and when we talk about whether we want to have children, it's common to hear something along the lines of "I would be more keen on it of I could be the dad rather than the mum".

That's not to say that fatherhood doesn't have its challenges, but women definitely draw the short straw when it comes to reproduction.

Think about what bringing children into the world involves for women.

Pregnancy is often extremely uncomfortable involving hormonal changes, nausea, pelvic and back pain, skin and hair changes. It involves invasive procedures such as pelvic examinations and intravaginal ultrasounds. There is a risk of miscarriage or stillbirth which can be psychologically traumatic.

And even in modern times, pregnancy is a very high risk state with a not insignificant risk of serious bodily harm, long term disability, and even death.

Then there is the immediate post partum period which involves breastfeeding which can be painful and inconvenient and other risks such as postnatal depression.

Then there is the fact that women are still by and large carrying the brunt of the physical, mental, and emotional labour that goes into raising children and running a household. And the impact of having kids on their lifestyles and careers is in general much greater compared with the impact on men.

So it's not really that surprising that when given the choice, a lot of young women will opt out of the above.

So, how do we improve things for women and make motherhood more appealing?

Given how highly intelligent, social, and emotional elephants are, it always seemed kind of wrong to me to bring back a being that would be the only one of its kind

New F1 on general surgery...

I know it's only 3 weeks or so in but I've been feeling very down and isolated and it's not just at work.

I moved away from all my family and friends for this job and I don't know anyone at work. My dad died recently and I'm always worrying about my mum all alone back home.

I've tried to be friendly towards the other F1s and nurses but everyone is very stressed and short staffed and don't want to talk.

The senior doctors are very dismissive towards us F1s, always putting us down, mocking us for not knowing how to do things, doing things like snatching my stethoscope off me. They're also always very busy in ED or theatres so we don't always have access to them for advice when a patient is very sick. We've managed so far but I'm always afraid of making a mistake and harming a vulnerable patient.

I constantly feel like I'm useless. Slow. Don't know anything. I know it's normal to feel like this when you're in a new doctor but now it's spreading to outside of work too. I feel ugly and worthless even talking to my friends or to strangers when I'm out for a walk. On my days off I have no appetite and spend a lot of time in bed.

Don't really know why I'm posting this here. I just don't really feel like myself.

I'm a newly qualified resident doctor. I'm based in the UK, and I realise this sub is mostly for US based nurses, but I figured medicine is medicine so you guys probably have relevant tips too.

I'm 3 weeks into being a doctor, and every interaction I have with the RNs, it feels like I'm annoying them. I get it tbh. I'm nervous, don't know the computer system, always get things wrong and in general am a bit useless.

I was wondering if you guys have any tips for new doctors? Things that make nurses' lives easier?

Edit: It's making me sad how many of these responses are something like "be kind" or "remember nurses are humans". That should be a given?

I'm a newly qualifed doctor and every interaction I have with nurses I feel like I'm annoying them. I'm brand new, nervous, can barely use the computer, doing everything wrong all the time and am generally completely useless.

Do you guys have a list of things that new doctors do that annoy you that I could work on?