Elsie Inglis and the Scottish Women's Hospitals

2 ELSIE INGLIS and the SCOTTISH WOMEN’S HOSPITALS ELS I E INGL I S AND THE SCOTTI SH WOMEN ’ S HOSP ITALS INTRODUCTION A new maternity hospital opened in the City of Edinburgh in 1925. It was named the Elsie Inglis Memorial Maternity Hospital in memory of a woman doctor who had died 8 years earlier. As a young doctor in the 1890s Dr Inglis had worked tirelessly to improve maternity care for the women of Edinburgh. Many a baby girl was named Elsie by her grateful parents. The hospital closed in 1988 and, as time passes, memories of the hospital and the remarkable woman for whom it was named have started to fade. But Elsie was a woman who deserves to be remembered, not just for her determination to improve health care for women but for her mission to prove that with willpower great things can be achieved by anyone, women as well as men. This is her story and the story of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals. CONTENTS i . elsie inglis and the scottish women ’ s hospitals 2 ii . “ elsie inglis prepares for her last journey ” poem by gerda stevenson 34 iii . hospital life – diary extracts 35 iv . the elsie inglis legacy 39