(John) Chassar Moir

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(21 March 1900 – 24 November 1977) was Professor of

Obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...

and

Gynaecology Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined are ...

at The University of Oxford. "One whose contributions were so outstanding as to make Chassar Moir’s an immortal name in the history of Obstetrics and Gynaecology". Sir Norman Jeffcoate Surgeon, researcher and discoverer who defined the characteristics and medical benefits of the

ergot Ergot ( ) or ergot fungi refers to a group of fungi of the genus ''Claviceps''. The most prominent member of this group is ''Claviceps purpurea'' ("rye ergot fungus"). This fungus grows on rye and related plants, and produces alkaloids that ca ...

alkaloids Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar st ...

of ‘

Ergometrine Ergometrine, also known as ergonovine and sold under the brand names Ergotrate, Ergostat, and Syntometrine among others, is a medication used to cause contractions of the uterus to treat heavy vaginal bleeding after childbirth. It can be used ei ...

’, the drug credited with saving hundreds of thousands of women’s lives, worldwide; who improved self-delivered

nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or nos, is a chemical compound, an oxide of nitrogen with the formula . At room temperature, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, and has a ...

anaesthesia for women in labour, developed the use of x-rays in

pelvimetry Pelvimetry is the measurement of the female pelvis. It can theoretically identify cephalo-pelvic disproportion, which is when the capacity of the pelvis is inadequate to allow the fetus to negotiate the birth canal. However, clinical evidence ind ...

for pregnant women to aid safe delivery and developed advanced repair techniques for fistula injuries in women around the world, writing the standard textbook. "A great and a gentle man; a man who did more than anyone living today to save the lives and relieve the miseries of women." British Medical Journal, 1977.

Early life

Chassar Moir was born in Montrose, Angus, Scotland, the youngest of four children and the second son of John Moir of Montrose and Isabella Pirie, of Brechin. Moir was educated at

Montrose Academy Montrose Academy is a coeducational secondary school in Montrose Angus. The School now teaches people from ages 11–18. It became a comprehensive school in the mid-fifties and was one of a pair of Scottish schools which formed a country-wide t ...

developing interests in botany, the sciences and German. He entered

The University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...

aged 17.

Medical career

Moir graduated M.B., Ch.B. from the University of Edinburgh Faculty of Medicine, in 1922. He chose obstetrics as his special subject.
Following house surgeon appointments he sailed as to India as a Ship’s Surgeon. He subsequently returned to general practice in East Surrey. He obtained Fellowship of Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1926, and prepared his M.D. thesis whilst in general practice. He was awarded his M.D., with gold medal, in 1930.
Moir was awarded

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

Travelling Fellowship as a medical scholar, 1932. He visited hospitals in Vienna, Budapest, Leipzig and Berlin: during this time he became proficient in German, using medical libraries to research historical writings on a fungus of rye - Claviceps purpurea - that was known for its ability to produce strong contractions in the pregnant uterus.
He was appointed First Assistant to the Obstetric Unit of

University College Hospital University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College London ...

, London. With Dr. H. Ward Dudley, F.R.S., he researched the active agent(s) of a liquid extract of ergot which took almost four years’ work to isolate and for the chemistry to be described, resulting in the new drug ‘Ergometrine’. The drug was found to be effective and constant in action, and its use to prevent

postpartum haemorrhage Postpartum bleeding or postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is often defined as the loss of more than 500 ml or 1,000 ml of blood following childbirth. Some have added the requirement that there also be signs or symptoms of low blood volume for ...

became universal. It has saved countless women's lives throughout the world and is ranked one of the greatest contributions to medical knowledge of the twentieth century.
Moir decreed that ‘Ergometrine’ was to have its method of preparation published in full, and that no patent or proprietary interests were to encumber it: it was to be free for any manufacturer to produce. At University College Hospital Moir met and married Theatre Sister Grace Hilda Bailey, of Strand-on-the-Green, 1933.They lived at 11 Chadlington Road in North Oxford from 1938 to 1957, and an Oxfordshire Blue Plaque was unveiled on this house in his memory on 6 July 2019. In 1937 he was appointed the first Nuffield Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Oxford. For relief of pain in childbirth, Moir devised an analgesic apparatus which could be used for self-administration by the woman and gave faster pain relief than the existing apparatus (25 seconds as opposed to 40 seconds), and that could be used for prolonged periods to no ill effect on mother or baby. Important contributions made by Moir and his department included developing the use of X-rays to detect the placental site, new methods of

, the use of pudendal block, research by Mostyn Embrey on

prostaglandins The prostaglandins (PG) are a group of physiologically active lipid compounds called eicosanoids having diverse hormone-like effects in animals. Prostaglandins have been found in almost every tissue in humans and other animals. They are derive ...

, the research by C. Scott Russell on the effect of

oxytocin Oxytocin (Oxt or OT) is a peptide hormone and neuropeptide normally produced in the hypothalamus and released by the posterior pituitary. It plays a role in social bonding, reproduction, childbirth, and the period after childbirth. Oxytocin ...

on isolated uterine muscle strips, and a study of amniocentesis. Moir’s outstanding contribution to gynaecological surgery was the repair of vesicovaginal fistulae and stress incontinence using the ‘gauze hammock’ method, resulting in an exceptionally high success rate. On retirement from the University of Oxford in 1967 he became Visiting Professor at the Postgraduate Medical School Hammersmith where he continued to lecture and to operate on patients, until shortly before his death, from cancer, in 1977. "A great and a gentle man; a man who did more than anyone living today to save the lives and relieve the miseries of women." British Medical Journal, 1977.

Publications

Textbooks

J.C.M. Joint author with Munro Kerr of Munro Kerr’s ‘Operative Obstetrics’, 5th edition, 1949. J.C.M. ‘Operative Obstetrics’, 6th edition, 1956. J.C.M. ‘Vesico-vaginal Fistula’, 1961. J.C.M. 2nd edition ‘Vesico-vaginal Fistula’, 1967.

Papers

Numerous published, including: Moir J.C., Dale H.H. ‘The action of ergot preparations on the puerperal uterus.’ B.M.J. 1932. Dudley H.W., Moir J.C. ‘The substance responsible for the traditional clinical effect of ergot.’ B.M.J. 1935. ‘History and Present Day Use of Ergot’. Jl. Med. Canad. Assn. 1955. ‘Ergot: From ‘St Anthony’s Fire’ to the Isolation of its Active Principle Ergometrine (Ergonovine).’ Am. Journ. of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 1974.

Recognition

M.D. Edinburgh University Gold Medal 1930 Awarded Rockefeller Medical Travelling Scholarship University of Oxford: Awarded D.M. 1938 Fellow Oriel College 1937 – 67 Vice-Provost Oriel College 1962 – 65 Nuffield Professor Emeritus, University of Oxford 1967 – 77 Honorary Fellow Oriel College 1974 – 77

Honours

1954 Hon. D.Sc. Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada 1955 Hon. LLD. Queen’s University, Belfast 1955 Hon. Corresponding Fellow of New York Academy of Medicine 1955 Hon. Fellow American Association of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 1955 M.M.S.A., ‘Honoris Causa’, Society of Apothecaries of London 1955 Joseph Price Orator: Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, U.S.A. 1960 The Eardley Holland Gold Medal, Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists 1961 Appointed C.B.E. 1970 Hon. D.Sc. Edinburgh

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moir, Chass Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Rockefeller Foundation people British obstetricians Academics of the University of Oxford Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of Oriel College, Oxford