Dr Karen Chandler

27/06/2026

So as I sit here with a very unfortunate crows loss at the showdown reading everyone comments on my retirement and to be honest trying like a newborn …
I remember you all and have loved reading the comments but actually love the photos …
So please feel free to share a newborn photo and or a current photo
It truly means so much
You all mean so much to me and any shared feelings make it so much better
I thought so long and hard about leaving … but it’s so important to be 110% invested - and I believe so strongly in spontaneous labour and minimal intervention…

Thankyou to everyone xx

27/06/2026

Yesterday was quite the day …
Not only was it my birthday but it was also my last births in the private sector and the closure of Burnside Women’s Health.

26.6.26

Jan 2004 I finished my fellowship training. I turned down a job offer at the Lyell McEwin and boldly stepped into private practice at Burnside Hospital having no idea what I was doing or indeed how to do it. A midwife from the QEH bravely came with me. A girl from Elizabeth being a fully fledged Doctor at Burnside … a point to prove for sure. I met Anna - the receptionist in the rooms where I started with Dr Olssen in the Attunga Medical Centre. Dr Carolyn Marlow (my same year trainee) and Dr Tracey Bradbury joined not long after and Attunga Obstetrics and gynaecology was born. Fast forward 22.5 years. 17 years as the chair of the perinatal committee. In that time a change of location across into the main hospital , Dr Bradbury already retired, Sarah the midwife had moved jobs but Liz had joined and she has just retired too. We changed practice managers after a retirement - but Anna was still there at the desk keeping us in line and behaving according to the rules. !! And Carolyn still with me too! ❤️

Many many babies (thousands) , many many women who we - as a team - helped to guide , assist, be there for and support. Many sleepless nights. Many missed events. But so much reward and so much love. Some hard times when things didn’t go right - mostly due to ‘nature’, some things I wish I could do again. But in reality 99% brilliant and successful outcomes. And so many of those girl babies I now see in their young adult lives as patients in their own right.

I have worked very hard.
But I have also been very blessed and am very very grateful. You have no idea.
I have loved my job as an obstetrician and it has defined me.
But you have to know when to stop - when it’s time to find a new challenge. And now is the time.
I will miss it but I’m ready.

There are no words that can say thankyou enough to my team. I am so happy you all have new jobs and are moving on to your own next chapter. To the senior clerical staff who have worked weekends to help us get to the end - Thankyou. To Mary for coming out of retirement to fill the gaps at the front desk - Thankyou. It takes a full team to make a practice successful and I’ve truly had the best.

To all the women I’ve cared for in the past - Thankyou for allowing me into your life at your most vulnerable and emotional. For those that I still see many years later - Thankyou for coming back - you have no idea how rewarding it is.

I am retiring from private obstetrics but am still in private for gynaecology - so for all your Pap smear issues (now a CST - stop name changing everything for us old people!!), menopause issues, weird ovaries and all the random period stuff - I am still here for you !! Just over on Melbourne St (Aware Women’s Health) - where there is wine …

To my family - Thankyou for putting up with me and remembering who I am. I missed a lot and I do apologise. I can’t wait for the grandkids …🤣🤣
To my absolute long suffering husband. Poor partners of obstetricians tbh - at least the phone won’t ring at night anymore ..😬😬🤭. I love you xx

To Schammy- Thankyou for being you on my last day. Being there meant a lot to me. And it won’t be funny if you ‘accidentally’ ring me …😂

And because life goes full circle. I am now heading back to the Lyell Mac to take up a job 22+ years later to work as I was meant to and to do some good. I am a public girl at heart and it’s time to fight for those who can’t as easily fight for themselves.

It’s not a new chapter. ‘Cos somehow they doesn’t give enough meaning to what I’ve done. It’s a new volume in a new book in my life. And I’m so bloody excited for what is to come ❤️❤️

Here’s to turning the phone off, wine on a Monday night and sleeping solid! Amen to that

And I will post about my last births on Monday with some photos when the mums have had a chance to brush their hair for a photo with me ❤️

04/12/2025

Those end of school year feels …🤣🤣

25/09/2025

It’s been a very peri (menopausal) week …
Hang in their ladies - it’s nearly the weekend 👏🏻👏🏻
🤣🤣🤣

24/09/2025

🤣🤣🤣
Yep

Paracetamol really is ok and necessary if you are unwell with a fever. No one takes medication for no reason ….

Please call if you’re concerned

The amazing midwife Liz is in with me tomorrow and happy to chat if needed

11/09/2025

R u ok day?

Am important day for everyone to stop and assess- themselves if they can but also others around …

Today in the office was a good one for that. Between the pregnant ladies and the perimenopausal ones no topic was taboo ..

And my favourite saying ‘you can’t pour from an empty cup’ to remind us all that we need down time / healing time and time to rejuvenate- it doesn’t matter who we are.

Always hear to listen 🥰

And just for some fun …this summed up the days chats !

11/05/2025

For everyone who could identify with any of these descriptions ❤️

Whilst this day for me is complicated also I have a fullness of heart in thinking of all the people that I have had the honour of making into a ‘family’ over the years ❤️❤️

Happy Complicated Feelings Day, Festival of Mofos, Mother’s Day, Mothers’ Day, Mothers Day, Getting Through It Day, Processing Day, Grateful Day, Wistful Day, Discombobulation Day, and FFS Don’t Mention It Day to all who celebrate or commemorate. ###

01/05/2025

Some very useful advice!!!

Always reach out to us about pain relief options before the procedure- there’s lots of options 😊

Now, look. Here’s a community service announcement. A lot of us are having a put in their uterus for , to sort out painful or heavy , issues or misbehaving . It’s one of the most common & useful innovations in women’s health and statistically very safe. Quite often you have to BYO Mirena; buy it with a prescription at a pharmacy and then bring it to the doctor or nurse who will install it, via your va**na & through the cervix (which behaves a little bit like a slightly stretching scrunchie). SO, if you’re getting a Mirena:
1. Do not open the packet. Your doctor will do that on the day.
2. Don’t be appalled. Yes, the box is stupidly huge but the IUD in there isn’t at all. 3. Maybe bring a shopping bag so you’re not waving a brand-name uterine device in a box the size of a park bench all the way home unless it makes you laugh. 4. Very importantly, discuss pain relief for the procedure before the appointment and do NOT let anyone tell you there’s no need for it. Everyone’s experience is different, some people have confronting pain and there is no reason not to be offered pain relief. A handful of practitioners are far too cavalier about it. As you were.

26/03/2024

Proud of this Achievement for all involved💜💜