Pregnancy Loss During Surgical Training Goes Unsupported

Female surgical trainees who lose a pregnancy face physical, mental, and professional harm, and most programs offer no clear support, according to a qualitative study of surgeons and trainees.

• Participants described pervasive mental health, physical, and professional impacts during general surgery training.
• Five barriers blocked support-seeking: burden on colleagues, privacy, reputation, guilt and isolation, and rigid training schedules.

The study does not give a rate of pregnancy loss or test any intervention, so it cannot show which programs or policies work. Its value is in naming the gaps: programs can start by reviewing leave, privacy, and peer-support arrangements against the barriers the participants described.