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A common myth about epilepsy is that women who suffer from this condition should avoid getting pregnant. This is simply not true. It can be safely managed for both the mother-to-be and future child. Epilepsy is not a contraindication for pregnancy.

Certainly there are additional precautions and steps that should be taken when a woman who has epilepsy is considering starting a family and it requires a multidisciplinary approach.

This is the story of pregnancy and epilepsy.

Our special guests include:

Daisy Beyer who lives in Melbourne with her husband and son expecting their second child in August of this year. Daisy is a registered psychiatric nurse and lives with generalised epilepsy.

Dr Amber Moore is an obstetrician and gynaecologist working in Melbourne, Federal Councillor for the Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists, and deputy chair of the Continuing Professional Education Committee.

Professor Mark Cook is a consultant neurologist, Director of Neurology and Chair of Medicine at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne. He was awarded an Officer in the Order of Australia for distinguished service to neurological medicine and treatment research for epilepsy.

Anna Heldorf lives in Melbourne with her partner and is a public servant. Anna was diagnosed with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy and had her first baby in April this year.

Our gratitude goes to Dr Amber Moore for her assistance in helping get this episode together.

This Medical Life podcast is available on all podcasting services and Spotify

A common myth about epilepsy is that women who suffer from this condition should avoid getting pregnant. This is simply not true. It can be safely managed for both the mother-to-be and future child. Epilepsy is not a contraindication for pregnancy.
Certainly there are additional precautions and steps that should be taken when a woman who has epilepsy is considering starting a family and it requires a multidisciplinary approach.
This is the story of pregnancy and epilepsy.
Our special guests include:
Daisy Beyer who lives in Melbourne with her husband and son expecting their second child in August of this year. Daisy is a registered psychiatric nurse and lives with generalised epilepsy.
Dr Amber Moore is an obstetrician and gynaecologist working in Melbourne, Federal Councillor for the Royal Australian &amp; New Zealand College of Obstetricians &amp; Gynaecologists, and deputy chair of the Continuing Professional Education Committee.
Professor Mark Cook is a consultant neurologist, Director of Neurology and Chair of Medicine at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne. He was awarded an Officer in the Order of Australia for distinguished service to neurological medicine and treatment research for epilepsy.
Anna Heldorf lives in Melbourne with her partner and is a public servant. Anna was diagnosed with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy and had her first baby in April this year.
Our gratitude goes to Dr Amber Moore for her assistance in helping get this episode together.
This Medical Life podcast is available on all podcasting services and Spotify

Welcome to the This Medical Life podcast. Our mission is to share stories about the triumphs and tragedies of diseases and illnesses from ancient times up until what we know today. It is about those scientific and medical minds who came before us and how, every single day, we stand on the shoulders of giants. This is a podcast about the stories of medicine.


Hosted by Dr. Travis Brown and Steve Davis, our target audience is General Practitioners, medical students, and other health professionals. We hope to educate, inspire and celebrate those who choose to care for others in their profession. From experience, we know that our audience extends beyond these fields and would like to welcome anyone to listen. The stories of those who came before us are nothing short of remarkable and we hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Production by Tim Whiffen

Design by Tom Buzz

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