ArticleWomen's health (London, England)
Merging motherhood and medicine: A qualitative study exploring barriers and enablers to motherhood among female doctors in Australia.
Article in Women's health (London, England). The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Priorities to Support the Home-Life of Women Physicians: A Scoping Review and Key Informant Interviews.Journal of general internal medicine · 2026Review
- Enablers and Barriers Among Women Ophthalmologists: A National Cross-Sectional Survey in Saudi Arabia.Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Article
- Fertility, family planning, pregnancy and motherhood among women doctors working in the EU and UK: a scoping review.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Experiences of Women Faculty in an Academic Medical Center.Women's health reports (New Rochelle, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- Occupational stressors experienced by pediatric residents during COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-methods sequential explanatory study.Journal of education and health promotion · 2025Article
- Information and decision support needs: A survey of women interested in receiving planned oocyte cryopreservation information.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
objectivesTo identify barriers and enablers to motherhood experienced by female doctors in Australia.
methodsSemi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with 18 female physician-mothers in Australia, during March and May 2020. Interview data were examined using thematic analysis to extract key themes.
resultsSix key barriers and seven key enablers were identified. Barriers (B1-6) largely reflected structural and cultural issues operating within health services and the wider medical profession. Barriers were the experience of working in medicine (B1); demands of postgraduate specialty training (B2); attitudes towards mothers in medicine (B3); gender inequality (B4); insufficient entitlements and support (B5); and competing priorities, conflicting roles (B6). Enablers were supportive partnerships (E1); break from traditional gender roles (E2); capacity to delegate/outsource (E3); doctors supporting doctors (E4); flexible work arrangements (E5); increasing acceptance and support (E6); and capacity to combine career and family (E7).
conclusionThis was the first qualitative study to explore motherhood experiences among female doctors in Australia. Participants reported structural and cultural barriers during all stages of motherhood. The mismatch between identified barriers and available supports reveals opportunities for improving the experience of physician-mothers.
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