Dr James Marion Sims was born in 1813 in Lancaster County, South Carolina. It was while pioneering numerous surgical procedures in Alabama that in 1849 he achieved the outstanding landmark in medical history of successfully, and consistently, repairing vesicovaginal fistulae. Sims soon developed a reputation as a fine surgeon, with new operations and techniques, using novel surgical instruments and his innovative approaches frequently published. Moving to New York City in 1853, he further established hospitals devoted entirely to women's health. Sims was controversial, with flamboyant descriptions of self-confident success, yet they were tempered with sober reflection of failure and loss. Today we remain with the Sims speculum and Sims position, eponymous tributes to his accomplishments as the 'Father of Gynaecology'.

The eponymous Dr James Marion Sims MD, LLD (1813-1883).

American surgeon George Hayward (1798–1863) has become lost to the historical memory of practicing urologists and urogynecologists, yet he deserves to be remembered for his important contributions to the advancement of pelvic surgery. In addition to being an observant commentator on the surgical practice of his day, he performed the first major operation carried out under ether anesthesia and he was the originator of the “flap-splitting” operation for the repair of vesico-vaginal fistula commonly, but erroneously, attributed to Lawson Tait. This article reviews George Hayward’s career and professional accomplishments with the hope of restoring his well-deserved prominence as a pioneer of reconstructive pelvic surgery.

Dr. George Hayward (1791–1863): a forgotten pioneer of reconstructive pelvic surgery

Pearl, Raymond (1879-1940)

“PASS ME THE SIMS” is a request heard every day during gynaecological surgery and as often in outpatient practice. The Sims speculum has been a valuable gynaecological aid throug out the wo ld since the first example was crudely fashioned from a pewter spoon in 1845 by James Marion Sims, a general practiti ner in Montgomery, Alabama.2 Sims went on to perfect the instrument that, with little variation, is still widely used in most vaginal surgery and for outpatient assessment of cervical and vaginal conditions, especially prolapse and fistulas. “Sims’ position” or the exaggerated left lateral position was devised a little later, as Sims experimented with the repair of vesicovaginal fistula in a small hospital he built for black women slaves with this condition. It is also widely used in surgery and examination today. In the United States, Sims has often been referred to, rather quaintly, as the “Father of Gynaecology”; certainly, he was one of those who developed gynaecology as a separate medical discipline.3 His statue stands in Central Park in New York (Box 1). However, in the latter part of the 20th century, the earlier idealistic views of Sims have been challenged by feminist writers and social historians.4-6 He experimented with women’s bodies, these writers have said, in particular those of women slaves, and he did not use anaesthesia. While these criticisms are valid, I believe they warrant further examination.

James Marion Sims: some speculations and a new position.

Classic pages in obstetrics and gynecology

On the state capitol grounds of Columbia, South Carolina, a bust of James Marion Sims (Figure 1) is flanked by inscriptions typical of the early reverence for Sims's memory: \"The first surgeon of the ages in ministry to women treating alike empress and slave\"; and \"He founded the science of gynecology [and] was honored in all lands and died with the benediction of mankind.\" Sims's posthumous reputation as the altruistic founder of modem operative gynaecology has been challenged in recent years especially on the grounds that his breakthrough discovery the cure of vesicovaginal fistula was based on experiments conducted on enslaved women in the plantation American South. Our purpose is not to speculate on Sims's motives but rather to summarize his career and to assess briefly its representations.

James Marion Sims and the rise of gynaecological surgery.

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James Marion Sims and the rise of gynaecological surgery.