Dugald Baird

Dugald Baird

Portrait of Sir Dugald Baird
Born 1899
Greenock
Died November 10, 1986(1986-11-10) (aged 86–87)
Edinburgh
Nationality Scottish
Fields Obstetrics and gynaecology
Institutions University of Aberdeen
Alma mater University of Glasgow
Spouse Lady Matilda Deans Baird
Children four

Sir Dugald Baird (1899 – 1986) was a Scottish medical doctor. He was professor in obstetrics and gynaecology.

Career

Baird was born in Greenock in 1899.[1] He graduated in medicine from Glasgow University in 1922. His early experiences attending births in the Glasgow slums and in the city's Royal Maternity Hospital shaped his interest in the social and economic influences on the health of women, their babies, and across generations.[1] He was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in 1935.

He moved to Aberdeen in 1936 as Regius Professor of Midwifery at the University of Aberdeen.[2] During the next three decades, his main interests were in the areas of clinical practice, service provision and health policy in reproductive health, perinatal and maternal mortality, social obstetrics, sterilisation, induced abortion, and cervical screening. With his wife Lady Matilda Deans Baird, also a physician, Sir Dugald also established the first free family planning clinic in Aberdeen.

In 1951 he set up the Aberdeen Maternity and Neonatal Databank, which continues today to link all the obstetric and fertility-related events occurring to women from a defined population.[3]

Sir Dugald formally retired in 1965.[4]

Family

Sir Dugald and Lady Baird had four children, one of which, D. Euan Baird, retired as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Schlumberger Ltd. in 2003, after a decades-long career with them. Another son, D.T. Baird, was instrumental in gaining approval for the use of RU-486 in the UK as an emergency contraceptive or 'morning after pill'.

Awards and honours

In 1966, the Freedom of the City of Aberdeen was conferred on him and Lady Baird for their contribution to medical science and health in the City and beyond.[4]

He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Stirling in 1974.[5]

The antenatal clinic at Foresterhill had been named after him in 1970.[6]The Dugald Baird Centre for Research on Women's Health at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital is named in his honour.

He is commemorated by a plaque at 38 Albyn Place.[7][8]

The Baird Family Hospital due to open in Aberdeen in 2020 has been named after him in 2015. The Baird Family Hospital will offer maternity, gynaecology, breast screening and breast surgery services, as well as a neonatal unit, a centre for reproductive medicine, an operating theatre suite and teaching facilities. [9]

References

  1. 1 2 Davis, Gayle. "The Great Divide: The Policy and Practice of Abortion in 1960s Scotland". Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  2. "Academic Obstetrics and Gynaecology: History". University of Aberdeen. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  3. "Academic groups: Immpact: Our work: History". University of Aberdeen. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Sir Dugald Baird dies". Glasgow Herald (Glasgow). 11 November 1986. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  5. "Stirling doctorate for African writer". Glasgow Herald (Glasgow). 27 April 1974. p. 3. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  6. "Tribute to Sir Dugald Baird". Glasgow Herald (Glasgow). 20 March 1970. p. 25. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  7. "Sir Dugald Baird (1899-1986)". Aberdeen Medico-Chirurgical Society. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  8. "Commemorative Plaques Record Details Sir Dugald Baird (1899 - 1986)". Aberdeen City Council. Retrieved 26 July 2015. line feed character in |title= at position 37 (help)
  9. http://www.nhsgrampian.co.uk/nhsgrampian/InvolvingYou.jsp;jsessionid=2241BE2BB445296BF5693FFC9C7B536A?pContentID=9346&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&
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