Former local obstetrician and gynaecologist Brian Hoolahan died on Friday night aged 78.     

It is estimated the man affectionately known as Hooly,  delivered 20,000 babies in a 50-year plus career including more than 10,000 in the Shoalhaven.

Locally, there would not be too many babies he didn’t deliver in the Shoalhaven after arriving in the early 1980s.

A hard working medical professional, who certainly went above and beyond on many occasions. I recall seeing him in at the then Watson House at Shoalhaven Hospital on three or four occasions one day and each time he arrived he was in a different outfit. He had left his annual Christmas get together to ensure my wife and soon to be family were alright.

And who could forget that raucous, infectious laugh?

With the midwives at Watson House he formed a superb team, many of them becoming highly valued friends, rather than just work colleagues.

A funeral service for Dr Hoolahan will be held on Friday, December 23 at 11am at the Allambie Crematorium on the Gold Coast.

The family requests no flowers, instead donations to Watson House at the Shoalhaven District Hospital, so they might purchase equipment they want.

Locally, a memorial service will be held in Nowra in January, on a date yet to be fixed. The date of the memorial will be advertised.

HE’S the man affectionately known as “Hooly”.

Local obstetrician and gynaecologist Brian Hoolahan has just passed a significant milestone, 50 years as a medical practitioner.

Dr Hoolahan graduated from the University of Sydney, which at that time was the only university in NSW providing medical programs.

He ran a GP practice in Strathfield for 10 years and said he was doing so much obstetrics and gynecological work he decided to switch full-time to that specialty.

“That was back in 1975,” he said.

In fact, his first delivery was way back in 1961.

“Back then as students we used to deliver babies. I think I delivered 50 before I was a fully fledged doctor,” he said.

“That has certainly changed. Students don’t deliver babies nowadays.”

Dr Hoolahan estimated he had delivered around 9000 babies.

“Usually between 300 and 400 babies a year,” he said.

Along with his family, who he said had been a great support throughout his career, he moved to the Shoalhaven in 1981, taking up residence in Terrara House for a period of time.

“I had land in Sydney and always had an affinity with the land, so it was great to come to the Shoalhaven and have our own farm,” he said.

“And I didn’t like the traffic in Sydney.”

He said he had seen a number of changes in his field over the years but probably the biggest has been the increase in caesarean birth rates.

“The increase in caesarean sections births has increased dramatically,” he said.

“When I first started it was about two or three per cent – now it is about 30 per cent.

“It is a much safer option for the baby without a doubt.

“Another big change has been the number of gynaecological procedures we now do.

“We used to do a lot of hysterectomies, which was major surgery. Now it’s a lot of less invasive keyhole surgery and other procedures.

“We do minimal major surgery now compared to before.”

He said the profession was changing all the time.

“Women are now waiting longer to have children and one of the exciting new happenings is a blood test that can be done on the mothers at nine weeks pregnant to determine whether the baby has Down syndrome or not,” he said.

“That is an exciting new advance – previously it had been quite a process to do those tests.”

He has also seen the average size of babies increase.

“Babies are bigger without a doubt, on average about 400 grams heavier,” he said.

“Now the average baby is around 3500 grams.”

He said the number of female doctors was increasing, which he saw as a good thing but occasionally problematic.

“Now about 60 per cent of doctors coming out are women compared to about 10 per cent when I started,” he said.

“I think it is a good thing to have more female doctors, they are very caring, but is also has a downside, they are often less productive than their male counterparts.

“They have to take time off to have their own children and often only return to the profession part time so their productivity probably isn’t as much as a male doctor.”

Despite the many long hours and a life virtually always on call he said he would still recommend medicine as a profession.

“It is a very rewarding career. I’ve certainly found it that way.”

He and 95 of his graduating class recently enjoyed a reunion in Sydney.

“I actually finished medical school the previous November but you didn’t get your degree until the following March,” he said.

“We had 200 graduates in my class.”

He said he and his family had made many sacrifices for his career.

“I’ve been on call a hell of a lot of the time, most nights and most weekends,” he said.

“You definitely have to have an understanding wife and family, probably more so in obstetrics and gynaecological than other specialties.”

At almost 75 he doesn’t appear to be slowing down and says retirement is not on the horizon.