foreach my $ln (@lines) { $pm->start && next; ** child starts my $dbh = $this->_child_db(); ... code here ** child finishes with _close_child(); $this->_close_child(); $pm->finish } $pm->wait_all_children() _child_db() { if (!$this->{'_dbh-child')) { print $$ . ": Creating Child DB Handle"; $this->{'_dbh-child'} = new DBI::Connect ......; } return $this->{'_dbh-child'}; } _close_child() { print $$ . ": Closing child DB Handle"; $this->{'_dbh-child'}->disconnect(); delete($this->{'_dbh-child'}); }