September 28, 2026
30 min watch
There is no perfect time to start a family as a busy ophthalmologist. However, motherhood is an important job, and women in medicine should never feel the need to apologize for it.
“Someone said to me, ‘There is no good time to have a baby except for when it’s the right time for you.’ It’s always going to be hard at work, and you’re never going to get brownie points for not having a child,” Laura B. Enyedi, MD, of Duke University, said in this episode of Steeped Insights, a video blog series produced by Women in Ophthalmology and Healio. “The important thing is to have your family when it is right for your family. Fertility sometimes becomes the first thing as type A women that we cannot control.”
Over a cup of tea, host Karen Chen, MD, of Permanente Medical Group, and Enyedi sat down with Lindsay M. De Andrade, MD, a pediatric ophthalmologist at University of Iowa Health Care, to discuss why De Andrade decided to pivot to ophthalmology at the end of her third year of medical school. While rewarding, treating pediatric patients requires a high level of clinical confidence in the face of the unknown.
“I think a lot of times, people say, ‘You’re so sweet. You should be a pediatric ophthalmologist,’” Enyedi said. “However, I always say, ‘Wow, you’re really smart. You want to take on all of ophthalmology and be quite comprehensive. You want a large variety of surgeries. And you want to be a problem solver who makes a difference in the lives of both children and adults. You should be a pediatric ophthalmologist. Not because you’re cute and sweet.’”
The physicians also highlighted common daily challenges of pediatric medicine, including short windows of patient cooperation and complex parent dynamics, as well as how the power of good mentorship often extends beyond the clinic, especially when built on a foundation of genuine connection rather than transaction.
“I remember feeling so nervous with each of my kids about telling people that I was pregnant and worrying about the burden I was putting on people, which is crazy,” De Andrade said. “You are having children to help make this world a better place, and being a mother is a really important job. The fact that we worry about telling people that is crazy.”
Lindsay M. De Andrade, MD, can be reached at [email protected].
Karen Chen, MD, can be reached at [email protected].
Laura B. Enyedi, MD, can be reached at [email protected].
Healio Interviews
Disclosures:
No products or companies that would require financial disclosure are mentioned in this article.
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