Past

The Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G) was officially formed in 1922 with the mission of keeping mothers and babies safe from the common complications that plagued childbirth. The high incidence of maternal and infant mortality was related to poor hygiene and nutrition, and though the traditional midwives, or bidans, performed an important service for their communities, there was still an urgent need for specialised medical assistance to improve birth outcomes.

Thus, soon after Singapore’s first medical school, the Straits and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, was founded by community leaders led by prominent businessman Tan Jiak Kim in 1905, and where medical students earned a Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery, the growing interest in improving maternity healthcare led to the official adoption of obstetrics and gynaecology as a unique discipline within the school.

The Department of Midwifery and Gynaecology was established at the medical school, then known as the King Edward VII College of Medicine, in 1922, with Professor Joseph Sandys English as its founding head of department. The University Unit was housed at the Kandang Kerbau Hospital from 1924. Its focus was training and producing lecturers and professors for the medical school, until it finally moved to the National University Hospital in 1985, where it continued its mission to educate, innovate and serve.

Singapore’s second president Benjamin Sheares (second from right) took over as the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology’s Head in 1941. He is seen here at the University Unit of Kandang Kerbau Hospital, where the Department was located prior to its move to the National University Hospital in 1985.

Professor JS English laid the foundations for professional maternity care, beginning with the education and training of doctors and midwives to meet the increasingly urgent need for evidence-based maternity healthcare.

Professor English passed the leadership to Professor Benjamin Henry Sheares who distinguished himself by becoming the first Singaporean Professor of O&G in 1951, soon after becoming a member at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in 1948.

Professor Sheares led the University Unit of O&G through an explosion in population growth, which reached a world record of births in 1966 (39,835 childbirths). Under him, the unit focused on clinical training and education, developing specialist expertise and research.

A widely-admired surgeon, he would go on to invent the Sheares neovaginoplasty for the simple and safe construction of neovaginas in women with congenital absent or under-developed vaginas, that would gain him worldwide recognition. Even after Professor Sheares took office as President of Singapore, he kept his clinical skills current by conducting tutorials for postgraduate trainees and performing surgery with the team at the University Unit.

Professor Sheares was succeeded by several distinguished academic clinicians under whose leadership the department’s reputation for innovation and research grew on the world stage. He was succeeded by Professor Tow Siang Hwa and Professor Sittampalam Shanmugaratnam, the latter of whom assumed headship in 1970 and who remains the longest serving head of department.

The Obstetrics & Gynaecology Department delivered Asia’s first gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) baby in 1986 at the National University Hospital. Baby Jamie is carried by nurse Ng Ah Lek and (from left) its former Heads of Department Professor PC Wong (2001 – 2008), Professor SS Ratnam (1969 – 1995), Professor Ng Soon Chye (1997 – 2001) and Associate Professor Roy Joseph from the Department of Neonatology.

Asia’s first successful in-vitro fertilisation baby, Samuel Lee, is carried by Professor SS Ratnam (third from right), the Head of Department (HOD) from 1969 to 1995. Also in the photo are Professor Ng Soon Chye (HOD, 1997 – 2001, second from right), Mrs Lee, the baby’s mother (sixth from right), and Professor PC Wong (fifth from right, HOD 2001 – 2008).

While the medical field rapidly evolved, so too did the midwifery discipline, which was progressively incorporated into Nurse training. From 1976, responsibility for managing childbirth shifted from the midwife to the physician. Professor Ratnam was succeeded by internationally-renowned academics, including Professor Sir Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, a leading scholar in obstetric medicine, labour management and human rights to healthcare, Professor SC Ng and Professor PC Wong who are both internationally renowned in assisted fertility, Professor EL Yong who has left his mark in the fields of andrology and menopause, and Associate Professor Mahesh Choolani who has contributed to significant advances in prenatal diagnostics and ovarian cancer biomarkers.

Present

NUS O&G continues its groundbreaking research in diverse aspects of women’s health, thanks to the many talented individuals who have dedicated themselves to the advancement of knowledge. This is evident in the number of prestigious research fellowships and awards, including Research Fellowships, Transition Awards and Clinician Scientist Awards conferred by the National Medical Research Council won by members of the department, most of whom are home-grown talents.

The innovative research resulting from this in recent years spans the breadth of the human life-cycle, from understanding the impact of preconception health on pregnancy outcomes, to advancing knowledge in fetal development, in utero therapies for congenital genetic diseases, and maternal and environmental impact on fetal and postnatal growth and health, using both preclinical animal models and longitudinal clinical cohorts, to a deeper knowledge of factors driving gynaecological malignancies, reproductive ageing and its effects on healthspan, to healthy postmenopausal longevity.

This knowledge has made possible the development of new impactful technologies at the department, including rapid prenatal screening tests for chromosomal anomalies, precision therapies for cancers and other illnesses afflicting women, novel therapeutics to support healthy menopause, and the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning to obstetric care and personalised cancer therapy through the efforts of its clinicians working in tandem with scientists.

The department’s staff have been recognised for their outstanding efforts with National Day Awards for Public Administration, National Medical Excellence Awards for Outstanding Clinicians and Clinician Scientists, the Mochtar Riady Pinnacle Awards for their exemplary clinical leadership and excellence in service, research and education.

Former and current faculty have been office bearers in prominent international societies including the International Federation of O&G (or FIGO), the World Health Organization, the Asia and Oceania Federation of O&G, the Royal College of O&G in the UK, the Obstetrical & Gynecological Society of Singapore and the College of Clinician Scientists (Academy of Medicine Singapore), underlining the Department’s regional and global influence.

Professor Wong Peng Cheang (right) from the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at NUS Medicine, presenting the cheque of $750,000, on behalf of the contributions of 26 consultants and senior consultants in the department, to establish the O&G Centennial Medical Bursary.

O&G Nursing has evolved in tandem, with nursing education taking great strides forward with an increasing number of O&G specialist nurses at NUH being advanced practice nurses, nurse clinicians and educators, and holding Masters of Nursing and PhDs.

Future

The Department of O&G believes strongly in investing in the next generation of care providers by developing academic fortitude and leadership. This is no easy task, as the academic medicine journey is often long and challenging. The Department has funded book prizes, awards and visiting professorships and this Centenary year sees an exceptional output in generosity as the Department unveils three new scholarships, underlining its commitment to academic endeavours.

The Obstetrics and Gynaecology Centennial Bursary will be funded by the consultants and senior consultants of the Department, to provide financial support to less economically well-off undergraduate students.

At the same time, the Sabaratnam Arulkumaran Scholarship has been created to support outstanding early-career research or clinical academics, particularly from low- and middle-income nations, to pursue a two-year research fellowship at NUS O&G. This will support academic progress and enhance collaboration and partnership between NUS, Singapore and her neighbouring institutions.

Further to the above, the Kuldip Singh Visiting Professorship in Obstetrics and Gynaecology will bring highly-regarded Professors in O&G to NUS to build research alliances and mentor young academics at the Department, promoting access to academic thought-leaders and unveiling opportunities to advance knowledge and practice.

Emeritus Professor Sir Sabaratnam Arulkumaran (right) presenting the cheque of $300,000 to establish the Sabaratnam Arulkumaran Scholarship that will go towards supporting young academic clinicians and scientists doing research work in the department.

Professor Kuldip Singh (right), senior consultant in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology presenting the cheque of $1 million to establish the Kuldip Singh Visiting Professorship in Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Exciting new collaborations are on the horizon, the newest of which is a partnership with the Semmelweis University in Budapest, commemorating Ignác Semmelweis, the Hungarian physician and researcher known as the “Savior of Mothers” for the way his teachings on hand hygiene greatly reduced maternal mortality in his era, and reflecting our shared dedication to maternal and women’s health.

The O&G Centenary Celebration Conference on 8 and 9 October showcased some of the Department’s accomplishments and highlighted an exciting future in women’s health, which has been made possible by an unrelenting dedication to clinical service by doctors, nurses and ancillary staff. The work is supported capably by a committed administration that gels the department and helps keep it focused on its deep commitment to educating and training medical undergraduates and postgraduate residents, and a top-down dedication to research and innovation taking a life-course approach.

President of Singapore, Mdm Halimah Yacob cutting the ribbon at the O&G Centenary Celebration Conference.

The conference theme, Women-Health-Life, emphasised the mission to provide exemplary service, constantly seek new knowledge, embrace innovation to improve healthcare, and educate and guide future generations of specialists. While the discoveries and innovations of the Department in the recent past embraced fertility and reproductive biology, contemporaneous and future research is strongly geared towards genetic and genomic medicine, in utero and ex utero therapies, applied artificial intelligence and biomarker discovery to enhance personalised medicine, FemTech, and robotics and space technology—yes even in the space of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

But at the centre of it all, driving our mission, stands the woman, and by natural extension her family and her community. Our patients have and will always remain our raison d’etre.