Desert Island Discs

Professor Dame Lesley Regan, obstetrician and gynaecologist

11.26.2023 - By BBC Radio 4Play

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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

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