AIBU to have a baby while at university?

[UniBaby]

Hi all, I'm in my late twenties and have gone back to uni. I have three more years left. My husband and I would like to start having children. While taking a year out is an option, I would like to avoid this. There is a heavy practical element to my course so I think the most I could reasonably take off for mat leave is 6-12 weeks. Would I be insane to try and have a baby at this time? Financially it is feasible for us at this time so I'm really just concerned regarding the time constraints as my course is pretty full on. Thanks :)

Fwiw on my course there were parents and people who had babies and was ok. Medicine jobs post uni are v demanding so having a baby during the course is a reasonable plan if you can manage it

Realistically, having a kid is far far harder than you can possibly imagine beforehand.
The high likelihood is that you won't finish your degree.
You say you've got 3 years left... have you just stated or are you studying part time? Can you afford to go full time to get it out of the way and start TTC earlier?

The thing is you don't know what type of baby you'll have so it's all well and good everyone on this thread who says it will be fine but it is a fact that you could have a baby who doesn't let u sleep and it is honestly a living hell. My baby didn't have a 'medical complexity' - she was very content and healthy. But she woke me up hourly for 11 months no matter what I tried and you can't even begin to imagine the psychological and physical strain this placed on me. It was sheer hell. If you were to have this experience your uni work would fall to pieces. If just isn't worth the risk imo but just my opinion of course. My first baby was easier but you just never know what you're going to get.

You could do it if it all works perfectly, Pregnancy and children rarely work out exactly how you plan- you might not get the pregnancy you want or expect- what if you get hyperemesis, or some other pregnancy related condition, babies can arrive early and need time in nicu- and once they're bigger they just might be needier or more complicated individuals than you anticipated. I have three i'm not trying to put you off, but as someone who did a very practical degree too, I couldn't have managed to grow and nurture another human while getting through all that learning. I conceived child 1 as i finished my degree. You won't be able to put yourself first once children come along, don't be in such a rush to make life complicated. Work hard get a brilliant degree, then make babies.

How long did it take you to do your PhD? Did you do it part time? Unless you had them back to back, if you had two kids in that time, it took longer than the usual full time PhD course.

Finish your degree first so that you're focused and employable.

It's up to you OP but I predict that, if you have a baby, you will likely end up going in a different direction than medicine.