| Administrative history | The formation of a separate obstetric department in the hospital was advocated by Mr James Luke, surgeon on a letter to the House Committee dated 20 December 1852. This followed the setting up of a board of examiners in midwifery at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. On the recommendation of a subcommittee to consider the matter, the hospital's Court of Governors agreed to the establishment of an Obstetric and Maternity Department to be attached to the hospital. This saw the appointment of Dr Francis Henry Ramsbotham as first Obstetric Physician (Ramsbotham had already been Consulting Physician in Obstetric cases since 1840) and the appointment of the first Resident Accoucheur (the first such appointment was on 24th October 1854). Initially, four or five obesterical beds were scattered throughout the medical and surgical wards. In 1866 the new Alexandra Wing opened and this provided a ward (named Victor in 1870 and later re-named Mary Northcliffe ward) for female medical patients where a few beds were reserved for maternity patients. The bulk of the department's work was done by medical students attending maternity patients in their homes under the Maternity District Charity. This became known as the 'White Charity' and it was later joined by the 'Green Charity', which was staffed by midwives. In 1877 two Resident Maternity Assistants were appointed for the first time.
A Joint Chair (St. Bartholomew's and the London Hospital Medical College in Obstetrics and Gynaecology was set up in and the Maternity Department at The London Hospital (Mile End) was expanded after it jouined The London Hospital group in 1968. After the formation of Barts and The London NHS Trust in 1994 the department was subsumed within the Trust's Women's Services Department. |