Dr Annie McCall L.R.Q.C.P. (Ireland) and L.M., MD Berne (23 September 1859 – 1949) was one of the first women to qualify as a doctor and was a significant contributor to the modern practice of

midwifery Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many ...

Early years

Annie McCall was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. 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 Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

Germany,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Berne Bern () or Berne; in other Swiss languages, gsw, Bärn ; frp, Bèrna ; it, Berna ; rm, Berna is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city" (in german: Bundesstadt, link=no, french: ville fédérale ...

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

before entering the

London School of Medicine for Women The London School of Medicine for Women (LSMW) established in 1874 was the first medical school in Britain to train women as doctors. The patrons, vice-presidents, and members of the committee that supported and helped found the London School of Me ...

. She qualified in 1885 as one of the first 50 women doctors and her interests included

and

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

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 Clapham Maternity Hospital at 41 & 43 Jeffreys Road, Stockwell. This had both

antenatal Prenatal development () includes the development of the embryo and of the fetus during a viviparous animal's gestation. Prenatal development starts with fertilization, in the germinal stage of embryonic development, and continues in fetal devel ...

and

postnatal The postpartum (or postnatal) period begins after childbirth and is typically considered to end within 6 weeks as the mother's body, including hormone levels and uterus size, returns to a non-pregnant state. The terms puerperium, puerperal perio ...

clinics and set high standards of hygiene and nursing care. The hospital was the first maternity hospital staffed entirely by women doctors and only women students were admitted. A district midwifery service was also provided to deliver women in their own homes. The hospital was renamed the Annie McCall Maternity Hospital in 1936. In 1938 it was expanded when 39 Jeffreys Road was purchased, giving the hospital the capacity for fifty beds for in-patients. Unfortunately the hospital was bombed during the Second World War in 1940, causing it to be closed down. McCall retired in 1941 and died in 1949 but the hospital was rebuilt after her death and the main hospital building continued as an NHS maternity hospital until 1970. The building was abandoned by Lambeth Council. It was under the guardianship of an Artists’ Cooperative organisation, Stockwell Studios(http://stockwellstudios.org.uk/) for many years, during which time it was protected from potential council demolition and granted a 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 The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

, McCall did not allow her nurses or patients to drink alcohol. Smoking was only permitted outside the hospital. The hospital also had a Battersea branch at 31 & 33 Albert Bridge Road which opened in 1892, 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. 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

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCall, Annie 1858 births 1949 deaths People in health professions from Manchester 19th-century English medical doctors English women medical doctors Alumni of the London School of Medicine for Women 20th-century English medical doctors Health in the London Borough of Lambeth History of the London Borough of Lambeth 20th-century women physicians 19th-century women physicians 20th-century English women 20th-century English people 19th-century English women