About Caroline
Caroline de Costa BA MBBS PhD MPH FRANZCOG FRCOG FRCS(Glas) is former Director of the Clinical School at James Cook University College of Medicine, Cairns Campus in North Queensland, Australia. She was Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University from 2004 until January 2021.
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Caroline has moved to The Cairns Institute. She continues her supervision of PhD and other postgraduate students and her engagement in research in the area of women’s reproductive health. In June 2023 she retired from the role of Editor-in-Chief of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, having spent seven and a half years as Editor-in-Chief.
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​Caroline was born and educated in Sydney. She was a practicing specialist obstetrician and gynaecologist for 43 years. She studied medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, in Dublin, and graduated MB BS (London University) and LRCP&SI in 1973. After completing residency in Port Moresby General Hospital, Papua-New Guinea, she returned to Ireland and undertook specialist training there and in the United Kingdom. In 1980 she returned to Port Moresby for a further 18 months before moving back to Sydney where she spent 17 years in public and private practice. In 1999 she moved to Cairns and took up her professorial appointment in 2004.
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Caroline was a guest on ABC's Conversations with Sarah Kanowski, 'Rebel doctor Caroline de Costa — smuggling condoms and scaring priests' sharing some of the stories covered in the Women's Doc in July 2021.
In her medical practice Caroline has been and continues to be committed to improving outcomes for Indigenous women in the area of obstetrics and gynaecology. She established the first specialist obstetric, gynaecology and women’s health clinic at the Aboriginal Medical Service in Redfern, Sydney, a service since expanded and run very successfully by Dr Sue Jacobs after Caroline moved full-time to Cairns. Her PhD thesis was concerned with the historical, social and political aspects of caesarean section.
Between 1994 and 2012 Caroline took part in the outreach specialist obstetric and gynaecological service (FROGS) established by Professor Michael Humphrey through Cairns Base Hospital, in particular providing regular consulting and surgical services in Weipa, Napranum, Cooktown, Innisfail and Yarrabah. In 2024 she was awarded the Gold Medal of the Australian Medical Association for her contributions to women’s reproductive health.
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She has conducted research into possible interventions to reduce the incidence of fetal alcohol syndrome amongst the children of Indigenous women in Far North Queensland and was closely involved with staff at Apunipima Cape York Health Council in translating research findings in this area into positive ways to improve maternal and fetal health.
Caroline is also an author of non-fiction and fiction. She has been first author of the three editions of Clinical Cases in Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Women’s Health (McGraw-Hill), co-author of numerous books for doctors on obstetric topics and of books for women about their reproductive and general health (see further sections of this website). She is also a writer of fiction, having published both novels and short stories in the past ten years.
Caroline has a particular interest in caesarean section, including the history and social implications of this common operation as well as techniques and risks of the surgery. She has authored or co-authored three books on this subject.