Henry Jellett (gynaecologist)

Henry Jellett
Born1872
Died8 June 1948
Medical career
Fieldgynaecology
Institutions

Henry Jellett (1872–1948) was an eminent Irish gynaecologist,[1] and author.

Jellet was born at Killinardrish, County Cork, Ireland on the 29 May 1872.[2] His father, also called Henry Jellett, was Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin[3] from 1889 until his death in 1901. Jellett was educated at Trinity College Dublin, where he was later Professor of Midwifery.[1] He was Master (consultant) of the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin from 1910 to 1914 when he resigned to serve in World War I.[2][4] During the war he was Commandant of the Munro Ambulance Corps in Northern Flanders and was Mentioned in Despatches, also winning the Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Couronne de Belgique and the Croix de Guerre, Française (with two stars).[1] He resumed his post as Master of the Rotunda from 1917 to 1919.[2][4]

After threats to his life from the Irish Republican Army[2] he emigrated to New Zealand in 1920 where he practised in Christchurch and was appointed advisory obstetrician to the Department of Health from 1924 to 1931.[5][6] He was appointed to address the issue of maternal mortality.[5][7]

At a time in the 1920s when maternity care was the purview of midwives Jellett's view was that normal births could be attended by midwives without a doctor in attendance.[8] He published proposals for midwifery services for normal births without doctors which was not the prevailing view of the New Zealand Obstetrical Society which believed births should be attended by a doctor and midwife or doctor and maternity nurse.[8] However like Doris Gordon he did support post-graduate training for doctors, teaching hospitals and the establishment of a chair in obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Otago.[9] Jellett's support for better training was because he believed there was too great a risk of caesarian sections being performed to compensate for poor obstetrical training and experience.[8][10][11]

Jellett was charged with dangerous driving in 1926 after knocking down a cyclist but the case against him was dismissed.[12] He died in Christchurch on 8 June 1948. [2][13]

Publications

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  • A Short Practice of Midwifery (1903)
  • A Practice of Gynæcology (1916)
  • The Causes and Prevention of Maternal Mortality (1929)
  • The Nursing Home Murder (novel with Ngaio Marsh 1935)
  • A Short Practice of Midwifery for Nurses (1937)
  • Wisha, God Help Us! (play 1941)

References

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  1. ^ a b c "OBITUARY". Br Med J. 1 (4564): 1262–1263. 1948. doi:10.1136/bmj.1.4564.1262. PMC 2090153.
  2. ^ a b c d e Wight St Clair, R.E. (2013). Historia nunc vivat: medical practitioners in New Zealand, 1840 to 1930 (PDF). p. 204. ISBN 9780473240738.
  3. ^ "A New History of Ireland" by Theodore William Moody, F. X. Martin, Francis John Byrne, Art Cosgrove: Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1976 ISBN 0-19-821745-5
  4. ^ a b "The history of the Rotunda hospital" (PDF). p. 14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  5. ^ a b "Maternal mortality". Southland Times. 3 July 1924. p. 5. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  6. ^ Bryder, Linda (2014). The rise and fall of National Women's Hospital: a history. Auckland, New Zealand: Auckland University Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-86940-809-1.
  7. ^ "Safe motherhood". Wanganui Chronicle. 12 August 1926. p. 10. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  8. ^ a b c Bryder, Linda (2014). The rise and fall of National Women's Hospital: a history. Auckland, New Zealand: Auckland University Press. pp. 11–12, 24. ISBN 978-1-86940-809-1.
  9. ^ Jones, Ronald W. (1 July 2016). "Doris Gordon: the foundation of a legacy. Doris Gordon Memorial Oration" (PDF). New Zealand Medical Journal. 129 (1437).
  10. ^ "Post-graduate Course". Hawera Star. 23 August 1926. p. 5 – via Papers Past.
  11. ^ "Post-graduate courses needed". Star (Christchurch). 21 August 1926. p. 8. Retrieved 14 August 2024 – via Papers Past.
  12. ^ "Doctor in court". Press. 8 May 1926. p. 8. Retrieved 13 August 2024 – via Papers Past.
  13. ^ “Who was Who” 1897-2007 London, A & C Black, 2007, ISBN 978-0-19-954087-7
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