Meet Sarah Pachtman Shetty

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sarah Pachtman Shetty. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sarah, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

I practice medicine as a Maternal Fetal Medicine (also known as a high risk pregnancy) physician and take care of people with high risk pregnancies because they have medical conditions before pregnancy or they or their baby develop complications during the pregnancy. The work is emotionally challenging and the hours are long. I trained for 11 years after college to be able to practice Maternal Fetal Medicine, and spent most of my 20s and 30s either working or in a library. I didn’t get married until I was 36 years old and had my one and only child after a long IVF process at age 39 years. I absolutely love my work, but the sacrifices to get there were enormous and more than I ever thought they would be.

Fast forward a few years – and my career was becoming overwhelming from a political and bureaucratic perspective and definitely wasn’t what I thought it would be. I was pushed to my limits with working long hours, staying up all night and then working the whole next day, seeing more and more patients, having more and more administrative demands, and not feeling like my life was my own. I barely had time to spend with my child and could see his childhood slipping away right before my eyes. I knew I was resilient – but could never imagine how resilient I could be next. I left my medical home after 14 years at that job. I had no plan. I had nowhere to go. But I built my community, found my people, and built on the strength I knew was already buried deep inside of me and just had to be rediscovered. I found it, nurtured it, moved past fear, and created a life practicing medicine in a way that was best for me and that I knew I could give the best and most comprehensive care to mothers and babies.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am a telehealth Maternal Fetal Medicine who offers full-scope high risk pregnancy consultative care and ultrasound reads – from a distance. Ouma Health allows MFM doctors to reach moms and babies in remote areas of the country where there are no MFM doctors and is expanding access to care in all directions.

I also run an Instagram page called @healthymamadoc where I educate and empower women to understand and therefore have more control over their health and their pregnancies.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Grit and grace. The ability to move forward, give yourself grace, show up for yourself and others, and finish each day knowing that you did your absolute best will get you far.
A strong work ethic is key. Passion for your journey and a clear vision are critical for success along the way. I journal weekly if not daily so that I can keep track of my vision and not lose sight of it in the grind.

If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?

I would read fiction, spend time exploring our beautiful planet, and love my family. I would also forgive myself. Throughout a lifetime, we are so hard on ourselves, and as driven, motivated humans, we often blame ourself for every failure, forgetting that failures are really just learning experiences. I would spend time reflecting and forgive myself for treating myself this way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.healthymamadoc.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healthymamadoc

Image Credits

Katie Ward Photography
Brooklyn Boudoir