Dr. (Prof.) Sheila Singh Paul, MRCP, FRCP, DCH, DTM (12 September 1916 – 11 January 2001) was the

Founder Founder or Founders may refer to: Places *Founders Park, a stadium in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolina Stadium * Founders Park, a waterside park in Islamorada, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * Founders (''Star Trek''), the ali ...

and Director of Kalawati Saran Children's Hospital,

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

. She was the first Indian woman to be given such a huge responsibility and she was only 40 years old at that time. She is a pioneer in the field of

Pediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

in India. Kalawati Saran Children's Hospital is one of the largest children hospitals in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

and was

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

's first independent children's hospital and not just a department. The Hospital was inaugurated on 17 March 1956 by Lady

Edwina Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma Edwina Cynthia Annette Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, (''née'' Ashley; 28 November 1901 – 21 February 1960), was an English heiress, socialite, relief worker and the last vicereine of India as the wife of (the then) Rear Admira ...

. It was built from the proceeds of the property donated by Mr Raghubir Saran and Mr Raghunandan Saran of New Delhi and was named after the wife of late Mr Raghubir Saran. It has a separate department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation for which the initial electrical and electronic equipment was donated by the

Government of the Soviet Union The Government of the Soviet Union ( rus, Прави́тельство СССР, p=prɐˈvʲitʲɪlʲstvə ɛs ɛs ɛs ˈɛr, r=Pravítelstvo SSSR, lang=no), formally the All-Union Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, commonly ab ...

(USSR). Dr. Sheila Singh Paul was also the professor of Pediatrics at Lady Hardinge Medical College. She was one of the founding members of the Indian Pediatrics Society and the

Indian Academy of Pediatrics The Indian Academy of Pediatrics is the association of Indian pediatricians. It was established in 1963, in Mumbai, India and claims to have 23,000 members, as of the year 2013 The head office of IAP is in Mumbai while Delhi is the seat of ...

APand started the Delhi Chapter of IAP in 1958 and the Punjab Chapter of IAP in 1974. She served as the President of the

Delhi in the year 1966. She had served on selection panels of the

Union Public Service Commission The Union Public Service Commission ( ISO: ), commonly abbreviated as UPSC, is India's premier central recruitment agency for recruitment of all the Group 'A' officers under Government of India. It is responsible for appointments to and exam ...

, Medical Council Inspector, Examiner in Pediatrics for several universities, organized Conferences of Medical Education and Pediatrics under the auspices of

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

and

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to c ...

. She was one of the chief organizers of the First Asian Congress of Pediatrics held in 1960 at

. She was on the Board of Research Studies and Academic Council of the

University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE ...

and responsible for the recognition of DCH and MD Pediatrics in 1960 and 1962. She was a pioneer in creating and promoting

Polio vaccine Polio vaccines are vaccines used to prevent poliomyelitis (polio). Two types are used: an inactivated poliovirus given by injection (IPV) and a weakened poliovirus given by mouth (OPV). The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends all chi ...

campaigns in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

and in introducing specialists trained in pediatric physiotherapy from the USSR, to train medical professionals in Kalawati Saran Children's Hospital. She was felicitated and awarded innumerable times by the

(USSR) and was an honorary member of the Pediatrics Society

. After retirement from government service in 1974, she took up the post of

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

and Head of the Department of

Christian Medical College, Ludhiana The Christian Medical College and Hospital is a private, minority-run teaching hospital in Ludhiana, India. Founded in 1894, it was then the first medical school for women in Asia. History Medical missionary work in Ludhiana was begun in 188 ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

. She continued in this post till 1987. In her lifetime she had many articles and journals to her credit. She remained a missionary till the very end serving villagers and the poor at no cost and never ever set up a private practice which she could have easily done. She believed that "tears of gratitude" in the eyes of the parents of the healed children was more than adequate compensation.

Personal life

The maiden name of Dr. Sheila Singh Paul was Sheila Therese Martin, born of parents of Jewish descent ( Myers from France ) who migrated to

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

in the early 1900s and owned coal mines in

Jharia Jharia is a neighbourhood in Dhanbad city in Dhanbad Sadar subdivision of Dhanbad district in Jharkhand state, India. Jharia's economy is heavily dependent on the local coal fields, used to make coke. However, fires in the coal fields hav ...

(now in

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . I ...

). Before she became a student at Lady Hardinge Medical College, she was a student of Isabella Thoburn College Lucknow and Loreto Convent, Asansol. She worked at the Lady Dufferin Hospital in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

and also served in the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the Land warfare, land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Arm ...

in the

Army Medical Corps (India) The Indian Army Medical Corps is a specialist corps in the Indian Army which primarily provides medical services to all Army personnel, serving and veterans, along with their families. Early history Very little is known of the medical organisatio ...

. Dr. Paul was one of the

Holocaust survivors Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universally acce ...

. In 1942, she went to meet her relatives and was taken along with them to camp

Drancy internment camp Drancy internment camp was an assembly and detention camp for confining Jews who were later deported to the extermination camps during the German occupation of France during World War II. Originally conceived and built as a modernist urban commu ...

enroute

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed int ...

, but was saved because of her British Indian passport. Mr. Balwant Singh Paul with the help of Rajkumari Amrit Kaur lobbied for her release. In 1943, she married Balwant Singh Paul bar-at-law, Lincoln's Inn son of Sardar Bahadur Kishan Singh, IG of Police and Kings police medal awardee; however, they separated in 1965. She is survived by her daughter Priya Singh Paul.

Publications

List of Publications in Indian Pediatrics and Journals of repute. 1. Paul SS "Tetanus in Children in Delhi", ''The Journal of Tropical Pediatrics and African Child Health''. Vol. 2, Sep., 1963 2. Paul SS, Rao PL, Mullick P, Kalliana P "A Case of Chondrodystrophia Calcificans Congenita". ''Arch Dis Child'' 1963 38: 632-635. doi: 10.1136/adc.38.202.632 3. Paul SS "A case of Guglielmo Syndrome with foetal haemoglobin". ''J Ind Pediatr'' Soo 2; 363:1963 4. Paul SS, Gupta S, Singh V "An analysis of tetanus in children treated without ATS and comparison with other methods of treatment. A report of 559 cases." ''Ind Pediatr'' 1;319:1964 5. Paul SS, Rao PL, Mullick P "Choledochal cyst." ''Ind J Radiol'' 18;172:1964. 6. Paul SS, Rao PL "Porencephalic cyst." ''Ind Pediatr'' 2;25:1965. 7. Paul SS, Rao PL "Pyuria in children." ''Ind Pediatr'' 2;209:1965. 8. Paul SS, Rao PL "Diaphragmatic disorders." ''Ind Pediatr'' 2;270:1965. 9. Paul SS "Longitudinal anthropomatriome measurements in Indian babies from birth to 2 years." ''J Ind Acad Pediatr.'' 10. Paul SS, Saigal S "Fanoconi's S. Fanconi's Syndrome. The effect of predniosolon and methyl testosterone and a review of the literature." ''Ind Pediatr'' 3;403:1966 11. Paul SS ''Leukaemias in children. A Manual of Pediatrics.'' World Health Organisation. Orient Longmans Ltd. Calcuttas 1966. 12. Paul SS, Tarassov OF, Saigal S, Gogte L "Chronic Idiopathic jaundice. Dubin Johnson Syndrome." ''Pediatr Clin Ind'' 2;278:1968. 13. Paul SS, Shagurina o, Modi S, Kalra S, Singh G "Malignant Neoplasms in Childhood." ''Ind Pediatr'' 4;309:1967. 14 Paul SS, Mpdi S, Wadhwa S, Mahey S "Neonatal tetanus in Delhi." ''Ped Clin Ind'' 2;180:1967 15. Paul SS, Anand S, Kumar S, Bhatia SL "Causes of death in low birth weight babies." ''Ind Pediatr'' 2;35:1970. 16. Paul SS, Suresh EC "High protein diet for low birth weight babies." ''International Congress of Pediatrics'' Vienna 11-48;1972. 17. Wallgren and Robinson Text book ''Paediatrics.'' Edited by Prasad L.S.N. 1974. 18. Paul SS, Kanakam M "A clinical follow up study of infants with birth trauma- some problems in pediatrics in India and Soviet Union." The research practical pediatrics centre, Kalavati Saran Children's Hospital, New Delhi 1:1971. 19. Paul SS, Suresh EC "High Protein diet for low birth weight babies." ''J Ind Acad Pediatr'' 9;529:1972. 20. Paul SS, Raveendranath K "Comparison of BCG inoculation by Conventional Intradermal and Jet method." ''Ind Pediatr'' 15;342:1978. 21. Paul SS, Chhabra AK "Kocher-Debre-Semalaigne Syndrome." Vol Liii 1978 p278. 22. Paul SS, Mathew P "Acrocephalopolysndactyly Type II, Carpenter's Syndrome in two siblings- A Case report." ''Ind Pediatr'' 15;191:1979. 23. Paul SS, Singh D. "Observation on partially treated purulent meningitis." ''Ind Pediatr'' 15;233:1979. 24. Paul SS, Taluja V "Value of BCG test as a diagnostic method in evaluation of childhood tuberculosis." ''CMAI'' Vol LIII p97. 25. Paul SS, Pawa RR, Singh D "Outbreak of salmonella infection in a pediatric Department." ''Ind Pediatr'' 18;29:1981. 26 Paul SS, Utal DS "Hypertension in children." ''J Appl Med'' November 1982. 27. Paul SS Utal Ds, Gupta GS "Tetanus Neonatorum." ''Ind Pediatr'' 21;684:1984. 28. Paul SS, Utal DS, Jana AK, Mathew J "Therapy in Neonatal Tetanus". ''Ind Pediatr'' 21;689,1984. 29. ''Practical Pediatrics - An Approach'' a book by Paul SS and Utal DS

References

Sheila Singh Paul. Sheila Singh Paul. Sheila Singh Paul. Sheila Singh Paul. Kalawati Saran Children's Hospital Kalawati Saran Children's Hospital Dr. Sheila Singh Paul's Journalhttp://cpj.sagepub.com/content/4/2/95.extract , ''Diastrophic Dwarfism''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paul, Sheila Singh Indian paediatricians 2001 deaths 1916 births Indian people of French descent Indian women philanthropists 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian writers Indian women medical doctors 20th-century Indian women scientists 20th-century Indian medical doctors Women scientists from Delhi People from New Delhi Indian medical writers Women writers from Delhi Medical doctors from Delhi 20th-century women physicians 20th-century Indian philanthropists 20th-century women philanthropists