Mothers In Medicine Podcast · Mothers In Medicine

Surgery, Twin Pregnancy & Shared Parental Leave: Miss Zoe Barber

·34 min·2 clips

She thought “there’s number one” meant one baby, then heard “there’s number two” a minute later.

Dr. Scholler welcomes Dr. Zoe Barber, a consultant in oncoplastic breast surgery and mother of twins. Zoe's background comes through her three degrees from the University of Oxford, her gold medal in the RCS exam at 28 weeks pregnant, and the ITV character she inspired. The conversation stays close to her own experience. She describes texting her husband to say they were having twins. That moment opens into a wider discussion of surprise, uncertainty, and the strain that can follow a major life change. Zoe says she did not really enjoy maternity leave. She found it hard, and the episode does not rush past that. The discomfort is allowed to sit there. That honesty shapes the tone of the whole conversation. The show returns more than once to the idea that motherhood does not have to be the single most fulfilling part of a woman's life. Zoe says it directly, without fuss. Scholler treats it as a useful truth. The discussion then turns to how being a patient changed Zoe's approach as a doctor. That experience shapes the way she thinks about care, risk, and what patients are carrying. The episode spends serious time on eclampsia and the driving ban that followed it. Zoe explains that she questioned the evidence behind the DVLA decision. She looked closely at the study that informed it. The paper included very few women and very few younger patients. She contacted the senior author to ask how many participants were actually eclamptic. The answer was none. Zoe and her husband then carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis on seizure recurrence after eclampsia. Their findings showed the risk was extremely low and well below the threshold used for driving restrictions. They published the work and presented it to the DVLA. National guidance changed. The final section returns to the ordinary realities of parenthood. Zoe says there are times when she does not like the twins very much. She says it plainly. The point is not to dramatize the feeling. The point is to leave room for it. It is a conversation about medicine, motherhood, evidence, and the limits of idealized stories.

As heard by us

A candid conversation about twins, eclampsia, and how being a patient changes a doctor.

Zoe Barber comes across as thoughtful, and the episode is at its best when it treats medicine and motherhood as work that never really gets tidy.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

For when you want a frank doctor-mother story with real stakes, not polished inspiration.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Mothers In Medicine Podcast