Over the past 34 years, doctor Brian Hoolahan has delivered more than 12,000 babies in the Shoalhaven region.

For more than three decades the obstetrician and gynaecologist has worked between Nowra and Milton, preparing mums for their deliveries and bringing new little people into the world.

Last Wednesday was the 77-year-old doctor’s final weekly visit to the Milton Medical Centre and he said he was excited to be retiring.

Dr Hoolahan and his wife Julie are planning to travel extensively and will live between their home in Wollongong and a holiday house on Queensland’s Gold Coast.

Dr Hoolahan, or Hooly as he is often referred to, graduated from the University of Sydney in 1960 and was in general practice at Burwood for 10 years before specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology.

He moved to Nowra in 1981 and worked alongside Doctor Ian Hoult, with the pair making trips to Dr Herbie Chee and Dr Nick Clarence’s Ulladulla rooms week-a-bout.

Dr Hoolahan has eight children and 10 grandchildren and said none of his offspring has followed in his medical footsteps.

“When they were growing up, I was working long hours and was at the hospital pretty much every night - even when I wasn’t on call,” he said.

“They were turned off by the long hours worked by an obstetrician in a regional area.”

He said obstetrics was a still a very demanding occupation, with many areas struggling to find doctors willing to put in the long hours.

In fact, with the retirement of Dr Hoolahan, up to a dozen Milton-Ulladulla women a week will have to travel to Nowra to visit a gynaecologist because a replacement for him has not been found.

“It’s very difficult to attract obstetricians and gynaecologists to regional areas like ours,” he said.

Over his career, Dr Hoolahan said he was proud to have never lost a mother during childbirth and he said some of his most treasured memories were saving the lives of mothers and babies during difficult births.

“One lady, from Milton, was having her ninth child and almost bled to death,” he said.

“A lot of things can happen very quickly in obstetrics and it’s very rewarding when you save mum and baby in a terrible situation.”

While he hasn’t been doing deliveries for six months, the veteran doctor said every birth was an exciting moment.

“Every single birth is very exciting,” he said.

“The novelty doesn’t wear off,” he added.