Papers of Joan Mary Darwin

Two ms case registers, containing records of births attended by Joan Darwin while a pupil midwife (1936-1937) and then midwife (1938, 1941-45) in London, Gateshead, Newcastle and Watford, noting the expected and actual dates of confinement, name, age and address of mother, the respective lengths of each stage of labour, details of any complications, the names of other medical staff (and in some cases neighbours or friends) attending the birth, whether or not the mother is breastfeeding and the administration of gas and air.

Joan Darwin was a midwifery pupil in South London before working as a midwife in Gateshead and Newcastle upon Tyne, and later in Watford during the early twentieth century.

Access restrictions may apply if material includes personal information of living individuals. All other records are open to research by appointment, Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm. For further information about accessing the collection and visiting the reading room, please contact: archives@rcog.co.uk

There is no record of the date or source of acquisition before the collection was deposited at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in May 2011.

Catalogued by Emily Richards, Archives Volunteer in accordance with ISAD(G). Edited by Clare Sexton, Project Archivist.

Further details of the contents of this material are available on request.

If you wish to reproduce this material, apply via the College Archivist: archives@rcog.co.uk

This collection was originally deposited at the Royal College of Midwives. It is now held under the terms of a service level collection care agreement at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.