Natural childbirth and rooming-in; artificial insemination and in vitro fertilisation; sterilisation and abortion: womens health and reproduction went through a revolution in the twentieth century as scientific advances confronted ethical and political dilemmas. In New Zealand, the major site for this revolution was National Womens Hospital. Established in Auckland in 1946, with a purpose-built building that opened in 1964, National Womens was the home of medical breakthroughs by Sir William (Bill) Liley and Sir Graham (Mont) Liggins; of the Lawson quintuplets and the glamorous gynaecologists; and of scandals surrounding the so-called unfortunate experiment and the neonatal chest physiotherapy inquiry. In this major history, Linda Bryder traces the evolution of National Womens in order to tell a wider story of reproductive health. She uses the varying perspectives of doctors, nurses, midwives, consumer groups and patients to show how together their dialogue shaped the nature of motherhood and womens health in twentieth-century New Zealand.
Rise and Fall of National Women's Hospital