Elinor Catherine Hamlin (1924–2020) was a world-renowned Australian obstetrician and gynaecologist who dedicated almost her entire adult working life to eradicating obstetric fistula in Ethiopia. Leaving behind a comfortable life in Sydney and later Adelaide, she travelled with her husband Reginald Hamlin (1908–1993) to Addis Ababa in 1959, with the view to working there for three years and helping set up a midwifery school at the Princess Tsehai Memorial Hospital. But the couple ended up spending the rest of their lives in Ethiopia, where they revolutionised maternal healthcare services and standardised best practice measures for fistula patient care. In 1975 they jointly opened the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital – at that time the only operating specialist fistula hospital in the world – which was destined to become a global centre of excellence in obstetric fistula surgery. Today the hospital carries on Catherine Hamlin's legacy as one of Sydney's most impactful medical graduates on the world stage.
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2.
For a short video of the Catherine Hamlin centenary symposium in Addis Ababa please see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdD0HZJenV0. Australia’s current Ambassador to Ethiopia, Julia Niblett, and Catherine’s own niece, Dr Alison Morgan, both gave presentations. The stand-out feature of the conference was an emotive live performance of a customised Ahmaric song which was sung in Catherine’s memory by members of the Addis Ababa University Cultural Group choir. For further comments about the song and symposium from Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia’s CEO Tesfaye Mamo, please see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI_d1seaJkM&t=3s.
3.
HamlinCLittleJ. The hospital by the river: a story of hope.
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4.
Ibid., p.
25.
5.
Ibid., p.
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HamlinCLittleJ. Op Cit.,
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9.
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10.
Ibid., pp.
x–
xi.
11.
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HamlinCLittleJ. Op Cit.,
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HamlinCLittleJ. Op Cit.,
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16.
Catherine writes in her autobiography that “After fifteen months [in London] we set sail for Hong Kong, where Reg had been offered a post in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital” (Hamlin C, Little J., 2001, Op Cit., p.47). However, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital was not operational until eight years later in 1963; it therefore seems likely that Reginald was employed by the Kowloon Hospital, which was the major hospital in the vicinity before the Queen Elizabeth Hospital was opened.
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HamlinCLittleJ. Op Cit.,
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HamlinRHJ. Op Cit.,
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21.
HamlinRHJ. Op Cit.,
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22.
GoddenR.Op Cit.,
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163, p.159.
23.
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25.
HamlinCLittleJ. Op Cit.,
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26.
HamlinCLittleJ. Op Cit.,
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27.
BullockIPankhurstR. Sylvia Pankhurst: from artist to anti-fascist.
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Palgrave Macmillan,
1992, Catherine summarises Sylvia Pankhurst’s work in Ethiopia in her autobiography (See: Hamlin C, Little J., 2001, Op Cit., pp 7–8.).
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HamlinCLittleJ. Op Cit.,
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33.
HamlinCLittleJ. Op Cit.,
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34.
HamlinCLittleJ. Op Cit.,
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35.
HamlinCLittleJ. Op Cit.,
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36.
HamlinCLittleJ. Op Cit.,
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37.
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40.
HamlinRHNicholsonEC.
Reconstruction of urethra totally destroyed in labour. British Medical Journal1969;
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150. Quoted at end of page 150 as an acknowledgment note. Catherine appears to have used her maiden name in this joint publication with her husband.
41.
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43.
SimsJM. The story of my life. Edited by his son, H. Marion-Sims M.D.
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D. Appleton and Company,
1884, Anarcha’s successful operation is discussed on pages 245–246.
Heinrich Martius (1885–1965) was a distinguished German urogynaecologist who originally described a vaginal tissue flap procedure (using muscle and fat) in 1928. When the Hamlins corresponded with Martius about the success they had had using his flap procedure, he responded saying: “I’m glad you’re curing these women with my operation, I’ve only done 26.” (Hamlin C, Little J., 2001, Op Cit., p.128).
50.
ZacharinRF. Management of urinary fistulae. In: ZacharinRF (ed.) Obstetric fistula.
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199.
51.
HamlinRHNicholsonEC. Op Cit.,
1969, p.
150.
52.
ZacharinRF. Op Cit.,
1988, p.
199. “The Hamlin-Nicholson gracilis muscle graft is required in the correction of many large fistulae, especially those involving urethral reconstruction”.
53.
New Zealand’s Council of Organisations for Relief Service Overseas (CORSO) was founded in August of 1944 through the combined efforts of the New Zealand Red Cross Society, the National Council of Churches, and the Society of Friends (Quakers), all of whom concerned themselves with providing international aid to war-torn nations after World War II. See: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/the-new-zealand-council-of-organisations-for-relief-overseas-corso-formed
54.
HamlinCLittleJ. Op Cit.,
2001, pp.
150–
151.
55.
HamlinCLittleJ. Op Cit.,
2001, p.
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56.
ZacharinRF. James Marion Sims (1813–1883) and the first fistula hospital. In: ZacharinRF (ed.) Obstetric fistula.
New York:
Springer-Verlag Wien,
1988, pp.
22–
64.
57.
ZacharinRF.The Hamlins of Ethiopia and the second fistula hospital. In: ZacharinRF (ed.) Obstetric fistula.
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Springer-Verlag Wien,
1988, pp.
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119.
58.
HamlinCLittleJ. Op Cit.,
2001, p.
166.
59.
HamlinCLittleJ. Op Cit.,
2001, p.
174.
60.
On being asked “how are you funded?” by Oprah Winfrey in a January 2004 appearance on the Oprah show, Catherine stated that “we beg; my husband used to say we’re professional beggars.” Interview available online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M5SH-WM6P0
61.
HamlinCLittleJ. Op Cit.,
2001, p.
204.
62.
This oft-quoted saying of Catherine has been repeated in various forums; see, for example: Rotary Club of Dee Why Warringah, Newsletter, Tuesday 21 February 2023, p.
8.
63.
HamlinCLittleJ. Op Cit.,
2001, pp.
221–
228.
64.
HamlinCLittleJ. Op Cit.,
2001, p.
225.
65.
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66.
HamlinCLittleJ. Op Cit.,
2001, p.
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67.
HamlinCLittleJ. Op Cit.,
2001, pp.
274–
276.
68.
Hamlin Fistula Relief and Aid Fund. Hamlin Fistula Australia Limited and Dr Catherine Hamlin. Accessed online January 2024 at: http://www.hamlinfistula.org.au/
69.
[Unsigned] Desta Mender (joy village). In: Catherine Hamlin Fistula Foundation (ed.) Dr Catherine Hamlin AC: the Saint of Addis Ababa.
Sydney:
Catherine Hamlin Fistula Foundation,
2019, pp.
28–
29.
70.
[Unsigned] Oprah interviews Catherine. In: Catherine Hamlin Fistula Foundation (ed.) Dr Catherine Hamlin AC: the Saint of Addis Ababa.
Sydney:
Catherine Hamlin Fistula Foundation,
2019, pp.
30–
31.
71.
LittleJ. Afterword, by John Little, March 2016. Hamlin C, Little J. The hospital by the river: a story of hope, Updated edition.Oxford, UK:
Monarch Books,
2016, pp.
306–
307.
72.
[Unsigned] Hamlin College of Midwives Moves Quickly Forward. Transformations (News from the Fistula Foundation), Fall 2007, pp.
1 &
5.
73.
Catherine Hamlin Fistula Foundation. Hamlin College of Midwives: Class of 2023. Accessed January 2024 at: https://hamlin.org.au/class-of-2023/ (
2023).
74.
LittleJ. Op Cit., Afterword, by John Little, March 2016,
2016, pp.
304–
305.
75.
LittleJ. Catherine’s gift: inside the world of Dr Catherine Hamlin.
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[Unsigned] Awards and recognitions, Dr Catherine Hamlin AC. In: Catherine Hamlin Fistula Foundation. Dr Catherine Hamlin AC: the Saint of Addis Ababa.
Sydney:
Catherine Hamlin Fistula Foundation,
2019, p.
46. A full list of 32 International Medical and Humanitarian Awards and prizes are given here.
78.
Australian Government, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Dr Elinor Catherine HAMLIN, AM. Companion of the Order of Australia. Accessed online January 2024 at: https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/883270.
