Having a Baby in the middle of Oraganic Chemsitry

Just wondering if anyone has given birth in the midst of a semester (of premed). How did it go? I know this is not ideal, but I am hoping to pull it off. Not working, just school, planning on taking Orgo and Biology that semester. Any advice/experience?

Hi, Sheremata.


Is this your first baby? I had originally intended on taking classes the semester my son was born, and, in retrospect, I was thankful that I didn’t. Giving birth and adjusting to a new baby is tough enough without having to worry about O Chem homework or biology.


In addition, you just don’t know how your labor is going to go. You could have an easy labor and be back on your feet in a couple of days, or you could have a very long labor and wind up having a c-section, which laid me up for 6 weeks afterward. Also, having a baby means that you’re not going to be sleeping very much, making the energy for school even harder to find.


On another note, having a baby is an amazing experience and you should enjoy that time with your new baby as much as possible. The thing about the pre-med trail is that it will be there after the baby is born. It may delay your timeline a little, but you will never regret taking the time to enjoy your child, but you may regret trying to fit too much into one semester and missing out on the first few months of your baby’s life.


This semester, I have been taking O Chem II while pregnant. It has been tough, especially since I’ve had a few complications. O Chem requires an incredible level of dedication, and I haven’t been able to keep an A level of dedication this semester. I’m doing well, but I am going to get a B, which is a disappointment, but there is nothing that can be done now.


Good luck.

You might academically regret taking the classes because poor grades cannot be reversed or erased. You won’t regret pushing your time line off by a few months for this, or at worst a full year in the application cycle. In the grand scheme of things, matriculating in 201(n) vs. 201(n+1) isn’t that big of a deal.

I just gave birth on the last day of final exams for this quarter. I was taking o-chem I, upper div microbiology, and a history class. I ended up with A’s and B’s, but had been hoping for all A’s. A friend of mine had a baby around mid-quarter last school year and worked it out. What she did was arrange with the professor that after the baby was born she stopped attending lectures and only came to lab sessions. I’m not sure how she did grade-wise though. That was in gen chem III…not an o-chem class…and she’s not pre-med.


Honestly, if you’re totally set on it make sure ahead of time that you know how much work it’s going to be, and that you might feel pretty awful while doing it. I truly had a hard time even finding the energy to keep going near the end, not to mention all of the complications I had. Also, I’m having an awful time recovering from the birth this time around. I really believe many of the issues I’ve had (or am having) stem from the way I ran myself into the ground in my 3rd trimester of pregnancy. I really wasn’t taking the best care of myself while trying to keep up with my classes, and I regret that now.

I’ll second what SomedayDrA said. I had a baby during what might have been my sophomore year. He was due in Sept. so I sat out the semester. I ended up having a C-section. You aren’t even supposed to drive for 4 weeks when you have a C-section, so I was glad to have no school commitments. You expect everything will go normally, but you can’t really count on it.

I took a semester off. My first session back I did a 6 week math class with a 5 month old nursling. Worst academic mistake of my life as I landed with a D and massive test anxiety (took same exact test and did worse second time through after studying hours type anxiety). My next semester and retaking, the class was still difficult, but I wasn’t up nursing all night anymore, and it was extended over a full semester, which gave my brain time to process. Good luck with your decision, but remember, they are only tiny once and neither grades or mommyhood can be erased. It’s a balancing game but one many of us do with children. Good luck.