Emily LePont was the eldest of five children who all grew up in Oxford and went to the university and into professions. At Lady Margaret Hall she played hockey for the University and gained a first class degree, followed by scholarships to University College College, where she won two silver medals.
After qualifying as a doctor she got married and bore one son and two daughters.
Her various posts as a surgeon and consultant were mainly at University College Hospital, Queen Charlotte's Hospital, the Samaritan Hospital, and at the Redcliff Infirmary. She delivered babies and performed operations during the blitz, and from UCH ran an obstetric flying squad: an experience that convinced her that babies should be delivered in hospital. She has been labelled 'pro-abortion' but believes that the decision when to terminate should be left to doctors.
Her other close medical concerns have been with infant mortality and cancer screening; she was President of the Women's National Cancer Control Campaign from 1974. She published widely and was even more active in committee work, being instrumental in promoting women's medicine from being 'the Cinderella of the profession'.
Her stamina allowed her to travel widely, lecturing and demonstrating past the normal age of retirement, and she has been awarded several honorary degrees. Of women she has said 'They have the satisfaction of being useful in the world.'