Hey Doc!

What happens when the OB/GYN becomes a new mom and realizes everything she thought she knew about postpartum was incomplete?

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Candice Wood, an OB-GYN, perinatal mental health specialist, and mom of five, for a conversation that is tender, hilarious, and quietly radical.

Yes, she built a 2-day-a-week career while raising five kids under five. But what we really talk about is what happened after the babies came.

When she found herself:

• silently competing with her husband’s ex-wife
• breastfeeding through gritted teeth and unspoken anxiety
• resenting a partner she had trained to be helpless
• and quietly unraveling, while still doing everything “right” on paper

This episode is about the postpartum identity crisis no one prepares you for — and the healing that happens when you finally name what’s actually going on.

We talk about:

• Why resentment is often a sign you’ve buried a need
• The trap of trying to be both the best mother and the best martyr
• How her patients helped her see her own suffering
• And what it really takes to feel like a good mom (hint: it’s not perfection)

If you’ve ever found yourself doing it all — and quietly wondering why it still doesn’t feel like enough — this one will land deep.

🎧 Listen now — and forward it to the friend who needed this yesterday.

Dr. Candice Wood has spent the last 18 years providing comprehensive wellness, gynecologic, and obstetric care for women of all ages. Over the years, Dr Wood has watched her own patients struggle to achieve wellness while lacking sufficient focus on mental health. With shortening doctor visit times, only the bare minimum can be done during a typical wellness exam, excluding the opportunity for a woman’s most trusted care provider to assess her mental health – arguably the gateway to her overall health and wellness.

Likewise, during postpartum visits, Dr. Wood found that there is no time to help young mothers struggling with mental health issues. Finding another mental health provider to care for a patient with perinatal mood disorders, infertility, or fetal loss is equally challengi

What did you think of the episode, doc? Let me know!

Thinking about leaving your job? Start here.
Before you walk out for the last time, make sure nothing gets left behind.
The Empowered Exit Checklist helps you leave with clarity, peace, and a plan.
📥 Download it now

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If you are going through a transition -- becoming a parent, leaving a job, figuring out how manage it all, schedule a free coaching session.

...

Hey Doc,

When you become a mom, everything changes— your body, your schedule, your sense of who you are. And when you’re a physician mom, that collides with a career that isn’t built for flexibility or rest.

In this conversation, Dr. Sonia Singh and I go straight into that tension — the messy middle between professional identity and motherhood. We talk about what it really looks like to become a mom in medicine, to return to work postpartum, and to rebuild your career in a way that actually fits your life.

Dr. Singh also opens up about the burnout that pushed her to make a change—and how she rebuilt her career by creating her own micropractice, designed for busy women and moms who want more control over their time and energy. It’s a conversation about honesty, courage, and redefining what success in medicine can look like.

Key takeaways:

• Breastfeeding can be deeply challenging—even when you “know” what to do.
• Returning to work postpartum can hold both relief and guilt at the same time.
• The tension between professional life and motherhood is real—and worth talking about.
• Practicing medicine on your own terms is possible when you decide your life gets to come first.

This episode is for you, Doc—the one listening and wondering if there’s another way. You can build a life that fits you—aligned with your values, your priorities, and the season you’re in right now.

Go listen now, and share it with another doc who needs proof she’s not crazy for wanting something different.

Dr. Sonia Singh is a board-certified internist, writer, practice consultant, and mom. Born and raised in Northern California, she attended medical school at UC San Diego and completed her residency at Stanford. During residency, she experienced profound burnout and nearly left clinical medicine altogether. A decade later, she’s deeply grateful she didn’t. Her career path over that time has also been her own wellness journey. Today, Dr. Singh runs a solo direct care micropractice and mentors physicians who are building similar paths. A creative at heart, she feels fortunate to practice medicine in a way that allows her creativity to thrive.

For more information about Dr. Sonia Singh, you can visit her

What did you think of the episode, doc? Let me know!

Thinking about leaving your job? Start here.
Before you walk out for the last time, make sure nothing gets left behind.
The Empowered Exit Checklist helps you leave with clarity, peace, and a plan.
📥 Download it now

Subscribe to ✨Stethoscopes and Strollers✨ on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.

Apple Podcast | Spotify | YouTube

Connect with me: Website | Instagram | Facebook

Join my Email list to get tips on navigating motherhood in the medical field.

If you are going through a transition -- becoming a parent, leaving a job, figuring out how manage it all, schedule a free coaching session.

...

Hey Doc—

This week’s episode is one of my favorites yet because it’s a full-circle moment.

I’m sitting down with my friend Dr. Sarah Stombaugh—family medicine physician, obesity medicine specialist, private practice owner, coach, podcast host, and mom of three.

And fun fact: she’s the reason I started Dr. Toya Coaching.

Yep. You’ve heard me mention her before. The woman who looked me in the eye and said, “That’s not a medical practice. That’s coaching.”

And here we are. Two years later. Full circle.

In this conversation, we walk through Dr. Sarah’s incredible journey—from meeting her husband in med school and navigating the couples match, to having her first baby the day before residency graduation (yes, really).

We talk about the chaos of postpartum, what it was like to parent through a pandemic while her husband was a critical care fellow, and how she finally built a life that honored her values.

It’s a story of boundaries, self-trust, and creating work that actually fits the life you want—not the other way around.

You’ll laugh, you’ll probably tear up, and if you’re in a season of questioning what’s next, this episode will remind you that you can design something better.

Dr. Sarah Stombaugh is a family medicine physician and diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine. Graduating from Creighton University Medical School and completing her family medicine residency at University of Chicago, Dr. Stombaugh practiced outpatient primary care in Evanston, Illinois before moving to Charlottesville, Virginia with her family.

Upon moving to Charlottesville, Dr. Stombaugh opened a private practice weight loss clinic, in which she sees patients in-person at her downtown Charlottesville office and by telemedicine throughout the states of Virginia, Tennessee, and Illinois.

In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Stombaugh is the host of the "Conquer Your Weight" podcast. Through this platform, she shares valuable insights, expert opinions, and practical advice on weight management, contributing to the well-being of a broader audience.

Dr. Stombaugh believes in empowering both individuals and the medical community in order to promote an evidence-based approach to the treatme

What did you think of the episode, doc? Let me know!

Thinking about leaving your job? Start here.
Before you walk out for the last time, make sure nothing gets left behind.
The Empowered Exit Checklist helps you leave with clarity, peace, and a plan.
📥 Download it now

Subscribe to ✨Stethoscopes and Strollers✨ on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.

Apple Podcast | Spotify | YouTube

Connect with me: Website | Instagram | Facebook

Join my Email list to get tips on navigating motherhood in the medical field.

If you are going through a transition -- becoming a parent, leaving a job, figuring out how manage it all, schedule a free coaching session.

...