Elinor Catherine Hamlin (1924-2020): 'The beloved daughter of Ethiopia'

Elinor Catherine Hamlin (1924-2020) was a world-renowned Australian obstetrician and gynaecologist who dedicated almost her entire adult working life to eradicating obstetric fistula in Ethiopia. Leaving behind a comfortable life in Sydney and later Adelaide, she travelled with her husband Reginald...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of medical biography p. 9677720241273621
Main Authors Toodayan, Nadeem, Toodayan, Zaheer
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 02.09.2024
Subjects
Elinor Catherine Hamlin
Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital
Crown Street Women's Hospital
Obstetric fistula
Mamitu Gashe
Reginald Henry James Hamlin
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Summary:Elinor Catherine Hamlin (1924-2020) was a world-renowned Australian obstetrician and gynaecologist who dedicated almost her entire adult working life to eradicating obstetric fistula in Ethiopia. Leaving behind a comfortable life in Sydney and later Adelaide, she travelled with her husband Reginald Hamlin (1908-1993) to Addis Ababa in 1959, with the view to working there for three years and helping set up a midwifery school at the Princess Tsehai Memorial Hospital. But the couple ended up spending the rest of their lives in Ethiopia, where they revolutionised maternal healthcare services and standardised best practice measures for fistula patient care. In 1975 they jointly opened the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital - at that time the only operating specialist fistula hospital in the world - which was destined to become a global centre of excellence in obstetric fistula surgery. Today the hospital carries on Catherine Hamlin's legacy as one of Sydney's most impactful medical graduates on the world stage.
ISSN:1758-1087
DOI:10.1177/09677720241273621