The original caption may contain language which is historic and which may no longer be considered appropriate. It has been retained in the record in the interest of historical accuracy.
The caption on the reverse of the photograph reads: “A maternity table. Picture shows the table set ready for operating, with leg supports and instrument tray in position.”
The maternity department at Radcliffe Infirmary was opened in July 1931 and largely replaced a maternity home opened in 1921 on Museum Road, Oxford. Deemed to be “one of the largest and most admirably equipped in the country”, the Radcliffe Infirmary’s maternity department had cost £40,000 and was donated by William Morris, later Lord Nuffield. John Chassar Moir was professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Oxford and built up the department at the university. In the early 1930s Chassar Moir and H. W. Dudley isolated the active agent in ergot, resulting in the production of the drug ‘ergometrine’, used to prevent and control postpartum haemorrhage, and in 1937 Chassar Moir demonstrated apparatus for the self-administration of nitrous oxide gas during labour. See also MED01/01/1431-1440, MED01/01/1442-1444, and MED01/01/1446-1449. High-resolution copies of this image are available for free for non-commercial use. Please Enquire to place an order.
This is part of the Series: MED01/01 Series of prints; within the Collection: MED01 Topical Press Agency Medical Collection
Source: Historic England Archive
Photographer: Topical Press Agency Limited
Photographer: Harrison, Norman Kingsley
Maternity Block, Hospital, Health And Welfare
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