Contributing Writer
McGovern Medical School
Elisa is a fourth-year medical student graduating in 2023. In 2019, she graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science and Arts in biochemistry. She is also pursuing a masters in public health. She enjoys playing soccer, jogging, and being with family in her free time. After graduating medical school, Elisa would like to pursue a career in pediatrics.
After our first week on clinical rotations, my third-year medical student colleagues laughed about the silly and awkward things that made their first days hard. Someone was shunned for bumping into the sterile field during their first operation. Someone else couldn’t figure out the scrub machines and was stuck mismatching for the day.
During my OB/GYN rotation, one of my primary roles as a medical student was to observe and assist during labor and delivery. On one particularly memorable Friday afternoon, after we welcomed a healthy baby boy into our world, I delivered the placenta wholly intact on my own. However, while I felt satisfied with a job well done, something was dripping down my leg…
I heard about the blood / that you described as a flood, / and the terrible stomach pain
She said, / “Doctor: / I know you’ll think I’m crazy, but / I really want to get pregnant.”
Have you ever thought about what it would be like to give birth in space? To labor and bear a child in the voids between celestial bodies? Quite possibly you have never really given much thought to giving birth at all, let alone beyond Earth’s atmospheric shell.
Contributing Writer
Monash University
Emily is a final year medical student at Monash University in Australia. She is looking forward to seeing the hologram broadcast of the first human birth in Space.
