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’.
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Sims JM. The story of my life (Edited by his son, Sims HM). Kessinger Publishing, 2006, pp. 15–27, 226–246, 236–237; Appendix III; Baldwin WO. 1884, Tribute to the Late James Marion Sims, MD, LL.D; Appendix A: Letter to his wife.
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ZacharinRF. A history of obstetric vesico-vaginal fistula. The Australia and New Zealand Journal of Surgery2000; 70: 851–854.
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MoirJC. Personal experiences in the treatment of vesico-vaginal fistula. The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology1956; 71: 478–491.
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MurrayCGohJFynesM. Urinary and faecal incontinence following delayed primary repair of obstetric genital fistulae. The British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology2002; 109: 828–832.
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SimsJM. On the treatment of vesico-vaginal fistula. The American Journal of Medical Science1852; 23: 59–82.
ShingletonHM. The lesser known Dr Sims. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Clinical Review2009; 14: 13–16.
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Sims JM. Clinical notes on uterine surgery, with reference to the management of the sterile condition. 1866, p. 23. Open Knowledge Commons and Harvard Medical School – Internet Archive: http://www.archive.org/details/clinicalnotesonu1866sims (accessed 10 March 2012).
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SimsJM. Silver sutures in surgery: the anniversary discourse before the New York Academy of Medicine, New York: Wood SS, Wood W, 1858, pp. 1–55.
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The fistula operation on Betsy. Original painting by Robert Thom depicting the event with some artistic licence 100 years later (commissioned by the Parke–Davis Company, from A history of medicine in pictures, edited by Bender GA, 1961). Accessed at: Dodd Memorial Library, Christian Medical College, Vellore: http://dodd.cmcvellore.ac.in/hom/30%20-%20JMarion%20Sims.html (accessed 10 March 2012).
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MurrayCGohJFynesM. Urinary and faecal incontinence following delayed primary repair of obstetric genital fistulae. The British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology2002; 109: 828–832.
Zimmerman LM and Veith I. Great ideas in the history of surgery. Norman Publishing, Waverly Press Inc, 1993. Part VII – Eminent pre-listerians; Chapter 41: Marion Sims and early American surgery, pp. 436–446.
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Sims JM. Clinical notes on uterine surgery, with reference to the management of the sterile condition. London: R Hardwicke, 1866p. 377 – artificial insemination. Open Knowledge Commons and Harvard Medical School – Internet Archive: http://www.archive.org/details/clinicalnotesonu1866sims (accessed 10 March 2012).
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SimsJM. Operation for double congenital harelip. American Journal of Dental Science1844; 5: 51–56.
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SimsJM. On vaginismus. The Half Yearly Abstracts of the Medical Sciences1862; 36: 331–331.
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SimsJM. On the surgical treatment of painful menstruation. Lancet1865; 42: 42–42.
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SimJM. Ovariotomy. British Medical Journal1867, pp. 50–50.
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SimsJM. Osteo-Sarcoma of the lower jaw: resection of the body of the bone — cure. American Journal of Medical Sciences1846; 11: 128–132.
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SimsJM. Removal of the superior maxilla for a tumour of the antrum; apparent cure - return of the disease. second operation. American Journal of the Medical Sciences1847, pp. 310–315.
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SimsJM. Amputation of the cervix uteri. Boston Medical and Surgical Journal1861; 66–67: 199–199.
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SimsJM. The treatment of the epithelioma of the cervix uteri. The American Journal of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children, New York1879, Journal of Medical Biography.
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Sims JM. The bromides of ethyl as anaesthetic. Medical Record, New York. 1880, pp. 155.
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Anonymous letter from ‘G’. The Peninsular and Independent Medical Journal. Higby & Stearns Publishers. 1858;1:104.
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Letter to: The Quarterly Journal of Practical Medicine & Surgery. John Churchill Publishers. 1858;22:468.
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Baldwin. The nature and cure of trismus nascentium. American Journal of Medical Sciences1846, pp. 363–363.
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OjanugaD. the medical ethics of the “Father of Gynaecology” Dr J Marion Sims. Journal of Medical Ethics1993; 19: 28–31.
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WallLL. The medical ethics of Dr J Marion Sims: a fresh look at the historical record. Journal of Medical Ethics2006; 32: 346–350.
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Lounsbury DE. Human experimentation in America before the Second World War. Military Medical Ethics. Chapter 17.: Lederer SE. The cold war and beyond: covert and deceptive American medical experimentation 2003;2:507–532.
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Obituary. British Medical Journal 1883;17 November:1000.
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LawsonJ. Vesicovaginal and uretovaginal fistulas: a summary of 25 years experience. Journal of Urology1980; 123: 370–374.
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