Stethoscopes and Strollers
Welcome to Stethoscopes & Strollers.
I’m Dr. Toya, OB/GYN, coach, entrepreneur, wife, and mom of two.
This is the podcast about what happens when the woman underneath the white coat starts asking what she actually wants.
Because becoming a physician can teach you a lot about achievement, responsibility, and taking care of other people. Becoming a mother can add an entirely new set of expectations about who you’re supposed to be and how much you’re supposed to give.
And somewhere in there, you still have a life to live.
On Stethoscopes & Strollers, we talk about all of it.
Motherhood. Medicine. Money. Marriage. Mental health. Career changes. Entrepreneurship. Childcare. Sex. Burnout. Asking for help. Building community. And figuring out what to do when the life that looked perfectly good on paper doesn’t actually work for you anymore.
Some episodes are practical. Some are personal. Some are conversations with people I think you should know. And sometimes I’m going to tell you about something happening in my own life or business because I learned a lesson the hard way and you might as well benefit from it.
What you will not hear is advice about becoming better at doing everything.
Absolutely not.
Sometimes you need more support. Sometimes you need a better strategy. Sometimes you need to have the uncomfortable conversation, negotiate the contract, learn where your money is, leave the toxic job, hire the help, start the business, or admit that something you worked very hard for no longer fits.
And sometimes you need to drop the ball.
This podcast is about building a life where your career, motherhood, relationships, ambition, and wellbeing can exist in alignment without requiring you to disappear in the process.
You’ll hear my perspective as a Black woman, physician mom, immigrant, entrepreneur, and someone who has made more than a few unconventional decisions about what work and family are “supposed” to look like.
I won’t pretend to have all the answers. I will talk about the things we were never taught to discuss honestly.
So, hey Doc. Welcome.
Let’s talk about it.
Stethoscopes & Strollers is for education, conversation, and connection. Nothing shared on this podcast constitutes medical advice.
Episodes
145 episodes
137. You Worked Hard for This. You’re Still Allowed to Let It Go
Hey Doc,“You worked so hard for this.”I still hear some version of that when people find out I stepped away from clinical medicine.And yes. I did.I worked hard to become an OB/GYN. I fought to become the surgeon I wa...
136. Doc, You Can Stop Breastfeeding
Hey Doc,You can stop breastfeeding.You can stop pumping.You can know all of the benefits, have enough milk, have a baby who breastfeeds well, and still decide:I don’t want to do this anymore.I know that...
135. The One Thing I Don’t Want You to Outsource: Your Money
Hey DocI love outsourcing.Cleaning. Childcare. Grocery delivery. The random tasks that somehow require 47 emails and a phone call during business hours.Please. Take them.But there is one thing I do not want you to co...
134. Please Take Care of Yourself, Doc
Hey Doc,This episode is a plea.Please take care of yourself.There has been a lot of loss in the physician community lately, and it has made me take a harder look at the care I’m giving myself too.Because I can preach...
133. These Children Will Have You Thinking You're a Bad Mother
Hey Doc,These children will really have you questioning your entire motherhood résumé.This summer, I left my kids in Trinidad with their grandparents while my husband and I stayed home to work on our businesses. And before you com...
132. Travel and The Lies We Tell
Hey, DocI'm sharing part of an interview I did on my friend Dr. Weili Gray's podcast, *The Dare to Dream Physician Travel Podcast*. At the time, she had just pivoted her show to focus on travel, and listening back now feels like opening...
131. Use Your Physician Privilege
Hey DocYou worked incredibly hard to become a physician. Four years of undergrad. Four years of medical school. Years of residency and fellowship. Endless sacrifices.So why are you acting like you're not allowed to benefit ...
130. The Good Mom Myth Is Burning Out Physician Moms
Hey Doc,I’m back with another episode where I was dropping gems on another podcast.I joined Dr. Diane Shannon on Vital Signs: Thriving as a Woman in Medicine to talk about something I think sits at the heart of so ...
129. NO Is Just the Beginning: A Physician's Guide to Asking
One conversation can change your career. But first, you have to be willing to ask.In this episode, I'm joined by my friend Dr. Kristine Goins on The Physician's Guide to Doctoring to talk about one of my favorite topics: asking....
128. Why I Left Clinical Medicine to Coach Physician Moms
Hey Doc—One of the questions I've been asked the most over the past few months is, "Why did you leave medicine?"The short answer is: I didn't leave medicine to do something else.I left clinical practice because I found anot...
127. Part 2: How Physician Moms Can Thrive Without Self-Sacrifice
Hey Doc—Welcome back to Part 2 of this conversation.In Part 1, we talked about why so many physician moms end up exhausted, overwhelmed, and questioning whether this is simply what motherhood and medicine are supposed to feel like...
126. Part 1: How Physician Moms Can Thrive Without Self-Sacrifice
Hey Doc—This summer I'm re-releasing some of my favorite conversations from podcasts where I was the guest because the topics are just as relevant today as they were when we recorded them.In this first part of my conversation on t...
125. The One-Minute Reset I Use During the Worst Days
Hey Doc,This episode is a little different.First, a content warning. I talk about miscarriage and describe one of the most difficult calls I've had as an OB/GYN, so if that's not something you want to hear today, I complete...
124. When He Changes After the Baby: Understanding Paternal Postpartum Depression
Hey Doc,Father's Day has me thinking about something we don't talk about nearly enough.Men can experience postpartum depression too.In this episode, I'm diving into paternal postpartum depression, why it often goes u...
123. Blackie, Whitey, and Beautiful Brown Skin: Raising Free Black Children in a World Obsessed with Socialization
Hey Doc,As Juneteenth approaches, I've been thinking a lot about freedom.Not the big, abstract kind we usually talk about. The everyday kind.The freedom to be a child.The freedom to love your beautiful brown s...
122. How I Find Great Au Pairs When the Apps Look Empty
Hey Doc—If you're looking for an au pair right now and wondering whether all the good candidates have disappeared into thin air, you're not imagining it.I've had several physician moms ask me how I find au pairs when the ag...
121. Patients Lie. Or Do They? How HVAC Customers remind me of patients
Hey Doc,Were you taught that patients lie?I was.Somewhere during training, the idea got planted that our job is to uncover the truth because patients won’t always tell it. Then I became an attending and started exper...
120. The Most Underrated AI Tool for Busy Physician Moms - Notebook LM
Hey Doc —I finally had to sit down and record this episode because I keep talking about NotebookLM to everybody. My Facebook friends. My sisters. Random physician moms who probably just asked me one innocent question and suddenly got a 2...
119. Affirmations Aren't Magic. They're Instructions.
I have to tell you what just happened in my house. My son ran inside to find me, eyes wide, proud as anything, and announced: "Mommy, I was just being resourceful." His toy car had rolled under the fridge. He tried the broom. He tried the mop. ...
118. Traveling With Your Au Pair (And Actually Enjoying It)
Au pair travel comes up in the groups every single week, and it's usually a horror story. The awkward silences, the au pair completely checked out, the vacation that didn't feel like a vacation.I did this episode because I think a lot of...
117. Michelle Obama Said the Same Thing I’ve Been Telling Y’all
Hey Doc,I just got back from ACOG and I’m still on a high!I went mainly to hear Michelle Obama speak and she did not disappoint. But what surprised me most was how deeply aligned her message was with everything I talk about here o...
116. Full Circle in DC: Medicine, Motherhood, and Michelle Obama
Hey Doc,I’m on my way to DC!My first home in this country. Howard. All of it.I’m going to ACOG’s ACSM, our national meeting, which is funny, because I don’t practice anymore.But this work I do with physician moms is ...
115. How to Delegate Your Life as a Woman Physician (Without Paying for Busywork)
Hey Doc,If you’ve ever said, “I just need more help,” and then somehow ended up more overwhelmed… this episode is for you.Because the problem usually isn’t that you don’t have help.It’s that you’re delegating the w...
114. When the Life You Wanted Doesn’t Fit Anymore
Hey Doc,Let’s talk about something that sounds simple… but clearly is not.You are allowed to change your mind.I say that, and I already know some of you are side-eyeing me like, “Okay… but it’s not that easy.”<...
113. If You’re Hesitating About Childcare, Listen to This
Hey DocI had a moment recently that stopped me in my tracks.My kids were heading out for a full day—something fun, something special—and I wasn’t there. And instead of guilt?I felt peace. Gratitude. Relief.Not...