Friday 11 December 2020 11:34am
Amy Hensley teachers daughter Isla how to use a stethoscope.
Even Amy Hensley – who lived every minute of it – seems a little surprised she managed to complete a medical degree while having two babies.
“It was a wild ride,” she says.
Take the time she had to balance her exam paper on her swollen stomach and write the answers on what was effectively a moving surface because her unborn daughter was a little restless.
“I was 39 weeks pregnant, and I kept feeling her kicking inside me. They had us sitting at these really old school desks with a seat with the tray that goes over you and I couldn't fit in there.
“So I had to answer the test writing on my pregnant tummy. It was really distracting but somehow I pulled off a 98 per cent.”
Amy, who will graduate in Medicine at the University of Otago ceremony on Saturday, has plenty of similar stories - sprinting between lectures to express milk, mad dashes to childcare for breastfeeding, battling morning sickness while on a surgical rotation.
“I think all those things that get you through being a working mum, which you can tell yourself like, ‘Oh, I'm earning money for the family’, I didn't have any of that. I had to be here full time and pay to be here. So that was difficult at times. And I had to make sacrifices at home and at school. I just tried to make sure that I chose those sacrifices versus being swept away by them."
Add to that the fact her husband Noah was completing his PhD at the same time, which meant they were both juggling night-time studying with childcare.
“I'm sure we'll look back and think how did we do that? Yeah, mostly caffeine,” she laughs.
Amy was already a qualified nurse when she decided to study Medicine. Born in New Zealand, she lived with her family in the United States from the ages of 8-14, before moving back to the US by herself when she was 18.
She met Noah while studying nursing in Arizona and they decided to relocate to New Zealand.
Amy applied to Otago Medical School and had to travel to Dunedin for her interview: “I put all my all my financial eggs in one basket and flew here because this was all pre-Zoom and they said at the time, ‘If there's any technical difficulties, you won't be offered another interview’.”
Thankfully, the flight was worth it. Amy was accepted, made it through Health Sciences First year and was accepted into Medicine.
So far, so good. Then Amy found out she was pregnant with her first daughter Isla.
“I was going to be due in September about six weeks before final exams. I had to make the decision of whether or not I sat those exams with a newborn.”
She decided to withdraw and worked as a nurse at Mercy Hospital. Isla was born in August and early the following year Amy was studying second-year Medicine with a five-month-old daughter.
“It was quite odd, because my experience of becoming a mother and a new parent was so intertwined with me becoming a medical student.
“Sometimes Isla would sit with me in class or come to the teddy bear hospital with me, so we have all these photos of her with a little stethoscope. And I had to push her in the pram and cram lectures on my headphones and stuff like that. So I definitely feel like she's done it with me.”
Amy Hensley with daughters Evie (left) and Isla (centre).
Amy became pregnant with her second daughter Evie in the fourth year of the six-year degree. (Evie was the baby kicking during the exam).
“I had her right at the perfect time where I could just take the summer off and then go back and do fifth year. But I got postpartum sepsis after Evie was born. And that was an awful time. I decided to recover and take the whole year off.”
Amy entered fifth year refreshed but no less busy with two toddlers on the go.
“There were some really hard moments. Studying for fifth year exams with two little kids was really full on.”
She learned to surround herself with “people who were encouraging” and found a supportive online community of other female doctors who had trained while having children.
Now she has finished her sixth year and is ready to start work as a house officer at Dunedin, Amy is able to reflect on her tumultuous journey.
“I think all those things that get you through being a working mum, which you can tell yourself like, ‘Oh, I'm earning money for the family’, I didn't have any of that. I had to be here full time and pay to be here. So that was difficult at times. And I had to make sacrifices at home and at school. I just tried to make sure that I chose those sacrifices versus being swept away by them.
“And it was crazy. But now it's done. And it feels really good.”