Working Life: I would like to see urinary incontinence treated as a vital public health issue

Dr Breffini Anglim O’Regan, consultant obstetrician, gynaecologist and urogynaecologist, The Coombe Hospital

Dr Breffini Anglim O’Regan, consultant obstetrician, gynaecologist and urogynaecologist, The Coombe Hospital

“I’m from Wexford, but I’ve been in Dublin since I was 17, when I came to UCD to study medicine. What attracted me was the combination of logical thinking and responsibility. You’re solving problems, but the answer actually matters to someone sitting in front of you.

“My specialty training took another 10 years. I chose obs/gynae because I loved the diversity, from managing young women in labour to acute emergency situations. One of the biggest challenges when delivering a baby is a shoulder dystocia, when the baby’s head is out but a shoulder gets stuck behind the mother’s pubic bone. When that happens, decisions have to be made quickly, and communication needs to be clear. The stakes are very high for mother and baby.