Dr. Shiela Mehra (also spelled Sheila Mehra) is a distinguished Indian gynaecologist and obstetrician, known for her long service in women’s healthcare and her leadership at Moolchand Hospital in New Delhi. The Government of India awarded her the Padma Shri in 1991.

She graduated from Lady Hardinge Medical College in 1959. She then went to the United Kingdom, where she earned the DRCOG and MRCOG from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. She later became a Fellow of the Royal College (FRCOG) and a Fellow of the Indian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (FICOG / ICOG).

For more than four decades Dr. Mehra has specialised in gynaecology and obstetrics, with particular expertise in endoscopic (minimally invasive) surgery and high-risk obstetrics. She has been the doctor of choice for many complicated cases and is widely regarded as a gold standard in women’s reproductive health—covering prenatal care, childbirth, postnatal support and advanced surgical techniques.

She has served as Director of the Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics at Moolchand Hospital, Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi. Colleagues and patients often speak of her calm authority in the operating theatre and her ability to explain complex procedures in simple language.

“Every woman who walks into my clinic carries not just a medical problem but a whole world of hopes and fears,” she once remarked to a younger colleague. “Our job is to treat the condition and protect that world.”

Dr. Mehra published India’s first book on gynaecological endoscopy and pioneered several new surgical techniques that later became standard practice. Her work helped introduce and popularise less invasive approaches to common gynaecological problems in India.

In addition to the Padma Shri (1991), she received the Radha Raman Award in 1998 and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Indian Medical Association in 2006.

Through decades of clinical practice, teaching and writing, Dr. Shiela Mehra has contributed significantly to raising the standards of women’s healthcare in India, combining technical skill with a deep sense of responsibility toward her patients.