Toward a Society Where We Can Share the Joy of Pregnancy

"Why did you have to get pregnant at a time like this?"

As a female colleague, a doctor, reported her pregnancy to everyone with an apologetic look, I heard someone—I don't know who—click their tongue.

I hoped, if possible, that she hadn't heard it.

That is what I wished.

This was quite a long time ago.
It was just around the time when personnel cuts were decided for our radiology department due to medical office staffing changes.

In the radiology department, there is a quota system, so to speak, called the diagnostic imaging management addition. Radiology departments must interpret the massive volume of CT and MRI scans that pour in every day by the following day.

There were already not enough radiologists for the number of examinations, and we were working overtime every day until late at night, sometimes until the next day, to keep up.
Then came the tragic news of the personnel cuts. Just as we were all struggling to figure out how to cope, the aforementioned pregnancy report dealt another blow.
When it comes to pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare, the amount of work she can handle inevitably decreases.
It was no wonder that a sense of despair spread among everyone.

Of course, no one was a bad person. Everyone was serious and kind.
They were just exhausted and cornered by the quotas.

To be honest, I remember that the moment I heard my colleague's pregnancy report, I was overcome with a sense of despair before any feeling of celebration.

That reaction within my own heart was terrifying, shameful, and frustrating.

If we are unable to rejoice in the birth of life while working as doctors, a profession that protects life, then something is wrong with the way this society works.

This colleague's pregnancy report was the original experience that led me to start thinking that way.

SDGs often have an image of being about environmental issues, but in fact, goals regarding work styles are also presented. For example, "decent work and economic growth" is one of the goals that the SDGs aim for.

Then, is a work style where one feels apologetic for becoming pregnant, or where one curses a colleague's pregnancy, truly "decent work"?

If it is not a society where we can share the joy of pregnancy, then there is no job satisfaction, it is not humane, and I wonder if it can even be sustainable.

A "society where we can share the joy of pregnancy" is worth aiming for, not just for those who become pregnant, but for society as a whole.
That is what I think.

Time has passed since then, and recently I took eight months of childcare leave.

Although I work in a different office now, the scene of my colleague's pregnancy announcement back then is burned into my memory, which made it take courage for me to request leave.

I didn't hear any clicking of tongues.

On the contrary, I received many words of support from my colleagues.
Some even said, "I hope we become a society where men can take paternity leave with such confidence."

I was moved to tears by the difference in the atmosphere compared to that time.

Society is beginning to change.

I want to express my gratitude to my workplace and to society.