Nursing & Midwifery
The General Lying-in Hospital, 1767-1971
Display No. 86
The General Lying-In Hospital was one of the first maternity hospitals in the UK. They provided care for married women, and would also treat unmarried women if it was their first pregnancy.
The building is a short walk from St Thomas’ Hospital. Nightingale praised the quality of their care when her probationers received midwifery training there. ‘Lying-in’ was a Victorian term for childbirth and the bed-rest that was prescribed afterwards.
General Lying In Hospital, York Road: nurses weighing a baby. Photograph, 1908. Credit: Wellcome Collection. CC BY 4.0
Exhibits from ‘Nursing & Midwifery’.
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Nightingale is respected worldwide for her pioneering role in developing the nursing profession, her statistical work, and her evidence-based approach to healthcare. In honour of her bicentenary the World Health Organisation have named 2020 the Year of the Nurse and Midwife.
In our special exhibition, you will find out about objects, people and places which tell interesting stories about Florence’s life and legacy. You’ll discover artefacts from her life, people she both inspired and challenged, and places she helped to shape. There’s many more insights too!
Please click on the different sections of her famous coxcomb diagram to explore various aspects of her life and legacy. We hope you enjoy exploring!