After more than three decades of practicing, a Winchester doctor and his sidekick wife are hanging up their stethoscopes.

Dr. Richard Chamberlain, a local OB-GYN, officially retired Dec. 30. Laura Chamberlain, who managed Chamberlain Clinic and coached patients through labor alongside her husband, retires officially at the end of business today.

The couple moved to Winchester from Canada more than 20 years ago.

They originally practiced together for 11 and a half years in Canada, which is where they were raised. Today, they are dual citizens of the U.S. and Canada.

“He started that practice Feb. 1, 1985,” Laura said.

Richard said they were recruited to come to the U.S.

“During the 80s and 90s, they recruited a lot of Canadian doctors to come to the U.S.,” he said. “During that time, it looked pretty attractive. When I first started practicing, I didn’t plan (to come to the U.S. but I got really busy up there and was kind of getting burned out.”

The Chamberlains were recruited to Kentucky in 1995 and moved here in 1996.

“It’s been great,” Richard said. “They’ve treated us very well.”

Laura and Richard met at the University of Alberta in Edmonton through a campus ministry called Varsity Christian Fellowship and have been married 40 years.

Richard said he became an OB-GYN primarily because he enjoyed delivering babies.

He had done two years of general surgery during his residency, and decided he didn’t like it.

“I remembered I always really like delivering babies during my student internship,” he said. “So I was able to transfer into an OB-GYN program.”

Laura studied physical therapy, and said at the time, there was push for physical therapists to be trained to teach Lamaze childbirth classes.

“I started teaching his patients and that got me really interested in working the OB area,” she said. “When we came down here, we asked if I would be able to work full-time with him and they said that was fine.”

Laura said she really enjoys her part of the job because the patients can relate to her more and enjoy having a woman involved in the labor process.

Together, the couple estimates they have helped deliver around 11,000 babies over the span of more than three decades. Of that total, anywhere from 5,000 to 6,000 were delivered in Winchester at Clark Regional Medical Center.

Richard said it’s been an honor to play a role in such a huge moment in families’ lives.

“It’s a real privilege that I get to be a part of that,” he said.

Laura agreed.

“Every life is a gift,” she said. “To be involved in that gift giving is just really special.”

And while the job is rewarding, it has its challenges.

Richard said the job can be high-pressure and stressful at times, especially when something might be going wrong with a baby or mother.

Laura said their practice sees a lot of mothers with higher risk pregnancies because of things like hypertension, diabetes, smoking and drug use, and that adds to the stress of the job.

“It kind of wears on you,” Laura said.

“Plus, I’m getting kind of old,” Richard added.

The couple has five children and six grandchildren spread across the U.S. and also want to spend more time traveling to be with family.

“While we are still healthy and able we want to involve ourselves in our children’s and grandchildren’s lives as much as possible,” Laura said.

The couple also looks forward to spending more time boating and getting more involved at Calvary Christian Church. Laura wants to continue volunteering for New Beginnings Pregnancy Care Center in Winchester as well.

“We have no plans of leaving the community,” Laura said. “We fell in love with Winchester the first time we visited here. We love it.”

Dr. Ramon Thomas will take over the practice, and Laura said she anticipates the practice will continue much like it has for many years — serving the women and babies of the community as best as possible.

As they part ways with their practice, the couple said they wish the community well.

“We want to thank them for welcoming us when we moved here,” Richard said. “We have many great friends here. We love Winchester and we love Clark Regional Medical Center.”

There will be a community celebration for the Chamberlains from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Trinity United Methodist Church. Friends, former patients and others from the community are invited to attend. Instead of gifts, visitors are asked to bring a donation of new or gently-used baby supplies for New Beginnings.