Mums give their best

Dr Teoh Mei Shi, 30, medical doctor in Kelantan and pursuing Masters in Surgery:

I had long dreamt of doing a speciality course and had always considered starting a family after I finished my studies. But God decided to make life a little more challenging for me, and blessed us with a lovely daughter in the middle of my programme. Unfortunately, I still have two more years of my course to complete, which has to be done in Kelantan. My six-month-old daughter, Min Lynn, lives with her father back home in Penang.

My hours are very unpredictable ? and life can be hellish! There is no “typical day” at work for me. Sometimes there are OT (surgical calls) days, on-call days, clinic days and academic days. I start work by doing rounds early in the morning, then I go to clinic to see more patients there (most times extending past lunch time) and then back to the ward to see in-patients again. On days like these, I will get up at 6am to express, then express again any time between 10am and noon, and then once more after work in the evening.

Something I hadn’t considered earlier was how I would transport my milk during the seven-hour drive home (to Penang). It would be such a waste if my milk couldn’t stay frozen and had to be thrown away. I searched high and low for a solution, and even spoke to the ice-cream man and transportation services. In the end, I decided to try using a big cooler with lots and lots of ice to fill it up. It worked, but it was quite a hassle looking for so much ice!

I can never be sure when I will be able to take leave to go home. It will depend on that month’s roster and whether we have enough people to share calls. On average, I try to go back every fortnightly.

Of course I would like to encourage all working mums to try to breastfeed their children. I know this is easy to say but difficult to accomplish. All I know is that I gave it my best shot. Just give it a try, don’t give up before even starting.