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Description area
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History
James Alexander Chalmers (known as Hamish) was born in Inverness in 1912 and qualified in medicine in Edinburgh in 1934. Following service in the Air Force Medical Branch during the Second World War and posts at Bath, Birmingham, Inverness and Edinburgh, he was senior consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Ronkswood Hospital, Worcester from 1951-1977. He obtained his MRCOG in 1940 and became an FRCOG in 1954.
Chalmers is best known for introducing the vacuum extractor (ventouse) to British obstetric practice, as an alternative to forceps. He was introduced to the method by Professor Snoeck during a visit to Belgium in 1957 and went on to undertake vacuum deliveries at Worcester and to become an advocate for the apparatus.
He also researched widely on the history, development and current use of the procedure and accumulated a collection of publications from around the world on the topic. He visited key practitioners abroad, including V Finderle in Yugoslavia and T Malmstrom in Sweden. In 1971 he published a key work on the technique: The Ventouse-The Obstetric Vacuum Extractor (London: Lloyd-Luke, 1971).
Chalmers died in 1998.