Professor Dame Lesley Regan, obstetrician and gynaecologist

Nov 26, 2023

Professor Dame Lesley Regan, the Government’s first Women’s Health Ambassador for England, discusses her role in the Women’s Health Strategy, her taboo-breaking work in obstetrics and gynaecology, and her journey from aspiring doctor to leading advocate. She also shares her desert island song choices including Nina Simone, Mahler, and Bach, and discusses her book and luxury item picks.

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Introduction

00:00 • 5min

Leslie's Father's Impact

04:43 • 10min

Overcoming Challenges in the Sciences and Pursuing Medicine

15:11 • 15min

Retirement, Holidays, and Mozart's Clarinet Concerto

30:34 • 3min

Choosing Books and Luxury Items for a Desert Island

33:54 • 3min

Professor Dame Lesley Regan is the Government’s first Women’s Health Ambassador for England. She is one of the main drivers behind the upcoming Women’s Health Strategy which aims to tackle the gender health gap and improve services for women.

As a former president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists – only the second woman to hold that post in its 94-year history – she shone a light on historically taboo subjects from period problems and contraception to the menopause.

Lesley was born in London in 1956. When she was seven she told her father that she wanted to be a doctor and although the sciences weren’t her strongest subjects at school, she won a place at the Royal Free Hospital Medical School in London in 1975.

In 1991 she was appointed a senior lecturer in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at St Mary’s Hospital in London and consultant at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. The following year she set up the Recurrent Miscarriage Clinic at St Mary’s which is the largest miscarriage referral service in the world.

In 2020 she was appointed a DBE for services to women’s healthcare.

DISC ONE: Mr Bojangles – Nina Simone DISC TWO: Symphony No. 5 in C Sharp. Composed by Mahler and performed by Berliner Philharmoniker DISC THREE: Agnus Dei. Composed by Bach and performed by Iestyn Davies, (counter-tenor), The English Consort, conducted by Harry Bicket DISC FOUR: I Cried for You - Katie Melua DISC FIVE: Norma: Act I, Scene 1: Casta diva (Norma/Coro) Composed by Vincenzo Bellini and performed by Maria Callas (soprano), The Teatro Alla Scala Orchestra, conducted by Tullio Serafin DISC SIX: The Best – Tina Turner DISC SEVEN: Metamorpheme – Shakespeare and the Bible DISC EIGHT: Clarinet Concerto In A, K. 622 - II. Adagio. Composed by Mozart and performed by Karl Leister (clarinet) and Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted by Herbert Von Karajan

BOOK CHOICE: The Works of George Eliot LUXURY ITEM: Marmite on toast CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: The Best – Tina Turner

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley