Dame Hilda Nora Lloyd, DBE (née Shufflebotham; 1891–1982) was a British physician and surgeon. She was the first woman to be elected (in 1949) as president of the

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) is a professional association based in London, United Kingdom. Its members, including people with and without medical degrees, work in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology, that is ...

. Born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, the younger of two daughters, she attended King Edward VI High School,

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is a suburb of Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies immediately south-west of Birmingham city centre, and was historically in Warwickshire. The Ward (electoral subdivision), wards of Edgbaston and Nort ...

before entering

Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

(Interc BSc Pure Science, 1914, MBChB Medicine, 1916).

Personal life

In 1930, she married Arthur Lloyd, a pathologist who became professor of forensic medicine in

two years later; they had no children.

Career

After house officer posts in London, she returned to

as resident in obstetrics and gynaecology, passed her FRCS in 1920. She was particularly concerned with the problems of urban poor women, such as

STDs A sexually transmitted infection (STI), also referred to as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and the older term venereal disease (VD), is an infection that is spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, oral s ...

and illegal abortions. The "flying squads" she pioneered helped to save the lives of mothers and babies who would otherwise have died. She became a lecturer in 1934, professor in 1944, and chair of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 1946. 1950, she became the first woman on the

General Medical Council The General Medical Council (GMC) is a public body that maintains the official register of physician, medical practitioners within the United Kingdom. Its chief responsibility is to "protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the pu ...

. (Although Christine Murrell had been elected to the GMC in 1933, Murrell never took seat due to her death on 18 October 1933.)

References

External links

''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' Index# 101061394
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, Hilda 1891 births 1982 deaths People educated at King Edward VI High School for Girls, Birmingham British activists Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Date of birth missing Date of death missing Place of death missing British obstetricians Health professionals from Birmingham, West Midlands Alumni of the University of Birmingham Academics of the University of Birmingham 20th-century British surgeons