Tag Archives: archives

RCM Library temporarily closing 19th August…

RCM Library and Heritage Collections: our move and temporary closure

Later this year, mid-November, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) will be moving to their new home in Union Street, located close to London Bridge.

The RCOG’s Research and Information Services, including library, archives, rare books, museum and artworks, along with the integrated library and heritage collection of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) will be packed and moved to Union Street, before the College re-opens mid-November.

The Reading Room (library), located next to the reception area in the RCOG’s current building at Sussex Place, will be temporarily closing on Monday 19 August, in preparation for this move.

Whilst the Reading Room is closed, we will continue to respond to email enquiries. Access to eBooks, e-journals and other e- resource will also be available throughout this time. A limited document delivery service will be available.

Access to the Archives will continue as much as possible, by appointment only.

The Museum is now closed to tours and will reopen in Spring 2020.

Please note it may take longer to respond to enquiries during this time.

Please see Our New Home website for further details.

Royal College of Midwives – Special collections

‘This collection comprises primarily personal papers originally deposited at the Royal College of Midwives, now held at the RCOG. It includes case registers, pupil case books, notebooks, diaries, photographs and printed material, relating to the experiences of midwives and how childbirth has changed throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.’

A very useful table of contents is available via the JISC Archives Hub.

A collection of useful links is available in the members area of our website including links to archives, libraries and museums and items related to historiography…

From here to maternity: Lakeside explores the history of having babies

MODERN mothers-to-be in Nottinghamshire might debate the merits of a home birth versus a hospital delivery, but for their grandmothers or great-grandmothers, the choice simply didn’t exist.

A new exhibition, Mothers And Midwives: A History Of Maternity in the East Midlands, at Lakeside Arts Centre, looks at the reasons for this dramatic change, and the impact it has had on women, families, midwives and communities in the region.

The FREE exhibition runs from 13 January to 15 April with lunchtime talks in January, February and March to amplify themes explored in the display.

The experience of having a baby has changed dramatically over the last hundred years. It has moved from a social and domestic occurrence, attended by a sole neighbourhood midwife, to a more medicalised one which predominantly occurs in hospital. Midwives still deliver about 70% of all babies born and are usually the only professional in attendance.

The exhibition explores the development through historical and contemporary sources, covering issues surrounding pregnancy, birth, and the early weeks of caring for an infant. There are historic midwifery records, photographs, and equipment relating to midwifery and baby care. Historic material from the Manuscripts and Special Collections at the University of Nottingham provides extracts from published sources as well as letters and diaries on the subject, and reveals illuminating archives of medical understanding and accepted practice from earlier times.

A series of talks throughout the exhibition will draw on the firsthand experiences of those who have delivered babies in a very different era, as well as offer insights from historical experts.

Shona Powell, director of Lakeside, said: ‘This fascinating exhibition traces the evolution of our experiences of giving birth in the 20th and 21st centuries. The customs and decisions around how we bring babies into the world is such a lively topic for debate in every generation. It’s so interesting to see how we’ve moved from putting this momentous event in the hands of someone familiar to us in our home, to a risk-averse attitude where we have the advantages and interventions of modern medicine – but it can become more depersonalised. I think younger visitors will be amazed at how much has changed in such a short space of time. The exhibition will be a must-see for parents and anyone with an interest in our local social history.’

Dr Tania McIntosh, a lecturer in midwifery at the University of Nottingham who has worked with Manuscripts and Special Collections to develop the exhibition, explained: ‘Pregnancy and birth are universal experiences and this exhibition taps into that by showcasing the many different types of evidence which can help to tell the story of birth through the ages.  It is also important to collect material relating to very domestic issues such as birth; they are as important to our understanding of society as wars or revolutions.  If you are inspired by the exhibition to search your cupboards or attics for family photos or papers about birth, or have your own story to tell, then we would be very interested in hearing from you.’

The lunchtime talks will be:

Infant Welfare

Wednesday January 18

Dr Denise Amos, researcher for the Nottinghamshire Heritage Gateway and co-curator of ‘Mothers and Midwives’ examines the patterns and causes for the significant number of infant deaths at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century in three East Midlands towns: Nottingham, Leicester and Derby.

From Home To Hospital

Wednesday February 15

Using contemporary records, pictures and interviews, Dr Tania McIntosh, principal curator of ‘Mothers And Midwives,’ explores the changing experience of birth in the 20th century and the reasons why it became a medical rather than domestic event.

Midwifery In the District

Wednesday March 14

Julia Allison, former district midwife in Nottingham, past-President of the Royal College of Midwives and author of ‘Delivered At Home’, a history of district midwifery in Nottingham, will talk about the development of district midwifery and the experience of having a baby ‘on the district’. 

Places for the talks are limited, so please book your tickets as soon as possible with the Box Office on 0115 8467777.

The exhibition runs from now until Sunday 15 April and is free to visit. It is open from 11 am-4 pm Monday to Friday, and 12 noon-4 pm Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays (but closed Easter Sunday). It is at the Weston Gallery, DH Lawrence Pavilion, University of Nottingham.

International Confederation of Midwives records now available

The cataloguing of the records of the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) is now completed and the catalogue is available online at the Wellcome Library, reference SA/ICM.

The ICM is at the forefront of international policy development to influence and promote midwifery at global and national levels, and to pro-actively support international strategies to improve maternal and child health, for the achievement of ‘Safe Motherhood’ for all women.

More on this story from the Wellcome Library blog …

Royal College of Midwives archives now searchable via the Archives Hub

A message from the Project Archivist at the RCOG , Clare Sexton:

The top-level descriptions of organisational records of the Royal College of Midwives are now searchable via the Archives Hub: http://archiveshub.ac.uk/.

This is the direct link to the overview to the collection –  https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/c099b9b5-6451-3c4c-a67a-8e994f80d2e9 

Kind regards,

Clare Sexton
Project Archivist

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
27 Sussex Place
Regents Park
London
NW1 4RG

020 7772 6263

Good news – RCM archives accessible again after more than three years in storage

The RCM has now transferred its archives and library books to the RCOG library in Regent’s Park, London.

The archives have been catalogued, and anyone wishing to view the material is invited to contact the temporary archivist, Clare Sexton, at the RCOG.

The draft catalogue is now available to De Partu members via the Members’ area of the website.

Some of the De Partu steering group members were recently invited to the RCOG,  and enjoyed viewing some of the material. Clare is working on some resource guides to the collection that will soon appear on the RCOG website: http://www.rcog.org.uk/what-we-do/information-services/resource-information.

Some of the speakers: Professor Cathy Warwick, Dr Janette Allotey, Professor Helen King and Canon Julia Allison, with Claire Sexton (temporary archivist who has catalogued the RCM archives). Launch of the Royal College of Midwives archives at the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists library, Sussex Place, Regent's Park, London. November 4th 2011.

The collection is now completely accessible to RCM members. Others are welcome to view them in the reading room at the RCOG by prior arrangement. Clare can arrange for items to be retrieved in advance of your visit.

The catalogue will soon be freely available via the Archives Hub: http://archiveshub.ac.uk.