For anyone interested in the history of healthcare and gender, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (RCOG) offers this fascinating blog. The college was founded in 1929 and is home to library, museum, and archive collections (which it shares with the Royal College of Midwives; see the 09-01-2017 Scout Report) that collectively contains hundreds of documents and records relating to the history of obstetrics and gynecology. This blog recently featured a "Pioneers" series, which highlighted a number of women who played important roles in the college's history. These women include Louise McIlroy, a surgeon and gynecologist who became the first woman to serve on the Royal College's council and Gertrude Dearnley, a doctor who established a fertility clinic at the college in 1937. Another recent post explores the "hidden history of tampons," noting that in 1941 the Tampax company reached out to RCOG president William Fletcher Shaw seeking endorsement that their tampons were safe to use.
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