Dennis Williams
Gone but not forgotten
So, one of Brum's finest Women..
Dame Hilda Lloyd: First President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
Since earliest times, women have been looked after by women in their confinements. By the Middle Ages the profession of the female midwife, often an experienced older woman, was well recognised. The service of a male doctor was often frowned upon. Indeed, in 1522 a Dr Wertt of Hamburg was burned at the stake for attending a delivery dressed as a woman.
Not surprisingly, when women finally won the battle to enter the profession of medicine - it was in 1876 that the GMC (the General Medical Council) allowed women to register as medical practitioners - many of these women pioneers were attracted to the care of women and children. It was not long before women practitioners were earning high distinction in these fields. By 1949, the first woman had achieved the distinction of being elected President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG). Her name was Hilda Nora Lloyd.
The RCOG was founded in 1928. It was empowered to grant a diploma (DRCOG) and a Membership (MRCOG) by examination and to elect Fellows of the College. Its gestation had not taken place without some opposition from the gynaecologists themselves. Many gynaecologists regarded themselves first and foremost as surgeons, who happened to specialise in diseases of women. To them, the FRCS (Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons) was the required higher qualification. Indeed, the Fellowship of the Edinburgh College had specific sections on diseases of women for those wishing to specialise in this subject. A distinguished gynaecologist, Sir John Bland-Sutton, of the Middlesex Hospital even served as President of the English College in 1923 - 6. Until quite recently, aspiring gynaecologists were expected to undergo general surgical training and to obtain a Fellowship of one or other of the surgical colleges before embarking on their specialty postgraduate training.
As we shall see, the subject of this article was trained in the old school. Hilda Nora Shufflebotham was born in Birmingham in 1891, the younger of two daughters. Her father was a master grocer. She was a scholar at the King Edward Vl High School in that city before entering the Birmingham Medical School. She obtained her BSc and qualified with her MB, BCh in 1916. After house officer posts in London, she returned to Birmingham as resident in obstetrics and gynaecology, passed her FRCS in 1920 and got on the staffs of the Maternity and Women's Hospitals, having proved herself to be a skilful and energetic young surgeon. In 1930 she married Arthur Lloyd, a pathologist, who became professor of forensic medicine in Birmingham University two years later. They had no children.
"Hilda Lloyd's interests were practical and clinical. She well understood the problems of poverty, STD's and illegal abortion among the poor women of Birmingham, and the obstetrical 'flying squad' that she pioneered saved the lives of many mothers and babies. She worked furiously; in 1944, in the middle of World War II, she was appointed professor of surgery in Birmingham University. She served on planning committees for cancer and radiotherapy, and for blood transfusion. She was on the hospital board of governors and the NHS maternity committee. She was greatly interested to be on the advisory board of the Royal College of Nursing.
Hilda Lloyd was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (FRCOG) in 1936 and was soon elected as an examiner and then onto the Council of the RCOG. In 1949 came the great accolade - she was elected the first female President of the College by her male peers. (In fact, to date she remains the only female president of the RCOG to have been elected). Inevitably, there was some opposition to her election from some members of Council but her ability, charm, tact and considerable presence made her two subsequent annual re-elections unanimous. During her term of office she admitted the then Princess Elizabeth as an honorary Fellow (1951) and also introduced the new and widely distributed College journal. She was appointed the first representative of the College on the General Medical Council and here she lost one of her few battles. In 1951 she failed to introduce obstetrics to follow the medicine and surgery posts as part of compulsory pre-registration training. Many, including myself, would say 'the more the pity'.
In 1951 Professor Lloyd was created DBE (Dame of the British Empire). She was a slim, fair, graceful woman. Her husband died in 1948 and the following year she married a widower, Baron Theodor Rose. He died in 1978. Dame Hilda moved to Worcestershire, where she died in 1982, in her 90th year, following a stroke. Three years later a memorial plaque was placed in the Birmingham Hospitals and there is a splendid portrait of Dame Hilda in the RCOG."
by Prof Harry Ellis
And I had the enormous pleasure of working with her successor, Professor Hugh Cameron McLaren for twenty years, but only met her once very briefly... nice lady.
Dame Hilda Lloyd: First President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
Since earliest times, women have been looked after by women in their confinements. By the Middle Ages the profession of the female midwife, often an experienced older woman, was well recognised. The service of a male doctor was often frowned upon. Indeed, in 1522 a Dr Wertt of Hamburg was burned at the stake for attending a delivery dressed as a woman.
Not surprisingly, when women finally won the battle to enter the profession of medicine - it was in 1876 that the GMC (the General Medical Council) allowed women to register as medical practitioners - many of these women pioneers were attracted to the care of women and children. It was not long before women practitioners were earning high distinction in these fields. By 1949, the first woman had achieved the distinction of being elected President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG). Her name was Hilda Nora Lloyd.
The RCOG was founded in 1928. It was empowered to grant a diploma (DRCOG) and a Membership (MRCOG) by examination and to elect Fellows of the College. Its gestation had not taken place without some opposition from the gynaecologists themselves. Many gynaecologists regarded themselves first and foremost as surgeons, who happened to specialise in diseases of women. To them, the FRCS (Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons) was the required higher qualification. Indeed, the Fellowship of the Edinburgh College had specific sections on diseases of women for those wishing to specialise in this subject. A distinguished gynaecologist, Sir John Bland-Sutton, of the Middlesex Hospital even served as President of the English College in 1923 - 6. Until quite recently, aspiring gynaecologists were expected to undergo general surgical training and to obtain a Fellowship of one or other of the surgical colleges before embarking on their specialty postgraduate training.
As we shall see, the subject of this article was trained in the old school. Hilda Nora Shufflebotham was born in Birmingham in 1891, the younger of two daughters. Her father was a master grocer. She was a scholar at the King Edward Vl High School in that city before entering the Birmingham Medical School. She obtained her BSc and qualified with her MB, BCh in 1916. After house officer posts in London, she returned to Birmingham as resident in obstetrics and gynaecology, passed her FRCS in 1920 and got on the staffs of the Maternity and Women's Hospitals, having proved herself to be a skilful and energetic young surgeon. In 1930 she married Arthur Lloyd, a pathologist, who became professor of forensic medicine in Birmingham University two years later. They had no children.
"Hilda Lloyd's interests were practical and clinical. She well understood the problems of poverty, STD's and illegal abortion among the poor women of Birmingham, and the obstetrical 'flying squad' that she pioneered saved the lives of many mothers and babies. She worked furiously; in 1944, in the middle of World War II, she was appointed professor of surgery in Birmingham University. She served on planning committees for cancer and radiotherapy, and for blood transfusion. She was on the hospital board of governors and the NHS maternity committee. She was greatly interested to be on the advisory board of the Royal College of Nursing.
Hilda Lloyd was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (FRCOG) in 1936 and was soon elected as an examiner and then onto the Council of the RCOG. In 1949 came the great accolade - she was elected the first female President of the College by her male peers. (In fact, to date she remains the only female president of the RCOG to have been elected). Inevitably, there was some opposition to her election from some members of Council but her ability, charm, tact and considerable presence made her two subsequent annual re-elections unanimous. During her term of office she admitted the then Princess Elizabeth as an honorary Fellow (1951) and also introduced the new and widely distributed College journal. She was appointed the first representative of the College on the General Medical Council and here she lost one of her few battles. In 1951 she failed to introduce obstetrics to follow the medicine and surgery posts as part of compulsory pre-registration training. Many, including myself, would say 'the more the pity'.
In 1951 Professor Lloyd was created DBE (Dame of the British Empire). She was a slim, fair, graceful woman. Her husband died in 1948 and the following year she married a widower, Baron Theodor Rose. He died in 1978. Dame Hilda moved to Worcestershire, where she died in 1982, in her 90th year, following a stroke. Three years later a memorial plaque was placed in the Birmingham Hospitals and there is a splendid portrait of Dame Hilda in the RCOG."
by Prof Harry Ellis
And I had the enormous pleasure of working with her successor, Professor Hugh Cameron McLaren for twenty years, but only met her once very briefly... nice lady.
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