Parental Leave Policies in Obstetrics and Gynecology Training Programs in the United States and Canada

OBJECTIVE: To assess parental benefits across accredited U.S. and Canadian obstetrics and gynecology residency programs. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted from 2024 to 2025. All 292 residency programs in the United States were invited to participate by email, and U.S. and Canadian institutional websites were reviewed for publicly available policies. Policies were evaluated using a framework of 26 “transparency items” derived from prior work in general surgery. Descriptive statistics are reported as numbers (percentages) or medians (ranges). RESULTS: Data were obtained from 66 of 292 U.S. programs (22.6%) and 10 of 16 Canadian obstetrics and gynecology residency programs (62.5%). Parental leave policies were obtained by direct response in 55.4% of cases and through online review in the remaining 44.6%. The median number of transparency items addressed at each program was 12 (0, 20) in U.S. programs and 14.5 (13, 18) in Canadian programs. Although most programs reported having parental leave policies, detailed information was usually lacking. The U.S. programs offered a median of 8 weeks of maternity leave (range 6–26 weeks), indicating considerable variability. Canadian programs were generally more transparent and provided longer leaves for both maternity and paternity benefits. CONCLUSION: Parental leave policies in obstetrics and gynecology training remain inconsistent and often lack transparency.