The Dr. Mom Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that supports the holistic health and well-being of physician moms.
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To support the mental health, physical health, career satisfaction, and overall wellness of physician mothers and other health care providers with families.
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The Dr. Mom Foundation supports physician moms by:
Funding Partners & Programs
Sharing Resources
Raising Awareness & Advocating for Change
Creating Community
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To identify resources that will have an impact on the health and career satisfaction of female physicians;
To serve as advocates for maternal physician mental health;
To provide educational resources to assist maternal physicians in managing motherhood with the burdens of the medical profession;
To encourage financial support, both public and private, for maternal physician physical health and mental health resources and programs;
To promote changes in workplace policies and behaviors to improve the healthcare profession and the health of female physician mothers;
To advance female physician mothers as leaders in health professions and increase awareness of the particular role working maternal physicians play in our health care system.
To promote changes in public policies and funding mechanisms to improve the health outcomes of families, broadly and inclusively defined, because they are our families.
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Dr. Mom Foundation is dedicated to the memory of two Minnesotan physicians who died by suicide.
For more information about Radhika and Gretchen, please scroll down to the bottom of the page.
Why We’re Doing This
The Data
Learn More
Medical training and practice was not designed to support mothers.
Women now make up 39% of practicing physicians in the United States, nearly double the share of twenty years ago, and most will become parents during their careers. But the culture and practice of medicine hasn't kept pace with that change. Physician mothers face disproportionately higher rates of infertility, pregnancy complications, and postpartum depression — and too often navigate those challenges with little support.
This doesn't have to be the norm. Paid parental leave, protected lactation time, accessible childcare, and humane training policies are proven to help physician mothers stay well and stay in medicine. The Dr. Mom Foundation works with training programs, hospitals, and policymakers to make that support standard — because the cost of the status quo is measured in careers cut short, negative health outcomes, and lives lost.
By The Numbers
75% delay childbearing because of the demands of medical training.
62% take six weeks or less of maternity leave.
1.5× — female physicians' suicide mortality risk compared to women in the general population.
Sources and full citations in the fact sheet below.
Our fact sheet compiles the research on the challenges physician mothers face, the strategies that work, and resources available to them — fully cited across 22 peer-reviewed and authoritative sources. Free to share, print, and cite. To reproduce it in your own materials, reach us at info@drmomfound.org
Our Inspiration
The Dr. Mom Foundation was inspired by two doctor-moms with separate, but intersecting lives: Radhika Lal Snyder and Gretchen Wenner Butler.
Both were physician moms who lost their lives to suicide in 2021.
Their lives and medical practices had much in common. They completed residency training at Hennepin County Medical Center one year apart, they had deep ties to the same college community in central Minnesota, and both chose to practice medicine in the Twin Cities.
Dr. Radhika Lal Snyder
Dr. Gretchen Butler
Media Coverage
Physician Suicide Awareness Day, 2021
KSTP (ABC affiliate in the Twin Cities) covered an event held in front of the MN State Capitol, featuring Dr. Michelle Chestovich, Shireen Sakizadeh McConnell, and Dr. Kellie Lease Stecher. KSTP Story
Mental Health Crisis in Healthcare
Jana Shortal from KARE 11 (NBC affiliate in the Twin Cities) featured an interview with Dr. Michelle Chestovich on the topic of mental health among healthcare workers. KARE 11 Story
It takes a village after postpartum death
Laura Yuen, a features writer for the Star Tribune newspaper in Minneapolis, wrote a story about Dr. Radhika Lal Snyder’s family and the community response to her passing. Star Tribune story
Nursing Innovation - Postpartum health
Frank Rajkowski with The College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University newsroom wrote a feature on alums Deidra Heuring and Radhika Lal Snyder, discussing a national fellowship Heuring is using to raise awareness of perinatal mental health. CSB/SJU story
MN Physician Suicide leads to new Foundation
Andy Steiner, a writer with the Minnpost paper in the Twin Cities, wrote a feature article about the Dr. Mom Foundation and the mental health conditions for medical education and practice. Minnpost Story
We need to do all we can
KARE11 Extra report raising awareness about physician suicide, and featuring the families behind the creation of the Dr. Mom Foundation. KARE 11 Story