Annie McCall

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Annie McCall

Annie McCall (23 September 1859 – 1949) was a British medical doctor and was a significant contributor to the modern practice of midwifery.

Early years

Annie McCall was born in Manchester. Even as a child she knew she wanted to go into medicine, and was encouraged and supported by her mother, who provided her with an excellent education. She studied in Göttingen Germany, Paris, Bern and Vienna before entering the London School of Medicine for Women.[1] She qualified in 1885 as one of the first 50 women doctors and her interests included midwifery and tuberculosis.

Founder of Clapham Maternity Hospital

McCall was from the beginning deeply concerned about the high death rate of mothers during childbirth and shortly after qualifying in 1885 she started a school of midwifery in her own home at 165

Clapham Road
.

In 1889, with Miss Marion Ritchie, she opened the

Grade II listing
. It was sold by the council to developers and converted to residential use in 2014.

As a member of the Temperance movement, McCall did not allow her nurses or patients to drink alcohol.[3] Smoking was only permitted outside the hospital.

The hospital also had a Battersea branch at 31 & 33 Albert Bridge Road which opened in 1892,[3] with a dispensary at 2 Albert Bridge Road.

Pioneering work in midwifery and childcare

Through her pioneering work in the fields of midwifery and childcare she achieved very low death rates among her patients.

The hospital was also going against the tide in taking in all women who needed attention during childbirth, including poor women, and unmarried women.[4] Each patient received a manual; ‘What to do to have a Healthy Baby’. This manual contained all sorts of advice from the diet the pregnant woman should stick to prior to birth, to the kind of exercise she should be taking.

McCall was the vice chair of the London County Council Midwives Act Committee.

References

  1. ^ a b "Dr Annie McCall (1859-1949)". The Vauxhall Society. 19 February 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  2. ^ "AIM25 collection description". Aim25.ac.uk. 6 May 1987. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Lost Hospitals of London". Ezitis.myzen.co.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  4. ^ The Amateur Casual (4 November 2011). "The Victorianist: "We Have Trained 30 to 40 Women of Varying Nationalities Since 1912...Our Belief is, it is Character Not Colour that Counts." Or: The Lost Midwifery Hospital of Annie McCall". Thevictorianist.blogspot.com. Retrieved 23 April 2013.