Kinder Wood 1785-1830

Kinder Wood was born in Oldham in 1785 and was apprenticed at an early age to a surgeon and man-midwife, Mr Cox. Wood later became a pupil of Benjamin Gibson, a surgeon at Manchester Infirmary, before studying in London. Wood took the diploma of MRCS in 1807. He returned to Oldham and quickly gained a large surgical and midwifery practice. In 1816 he gave evidence to House of Commons on the condition of children employed in factories. Wood moved to Manchester in 1818 where he had a practice in King Street. That year he was appointed man-midwife to Manchester and Salford Lying-in Hospital [St Mary's], a position he held until ill health forced him to resign in 1829. Kinder Wood was the first to give lectures on midwifery to Manchester medical students, first at his house in King Street, later at the Lying-in Hospital, and from 1825 until 1833 at the newly established Pine Street Medical School. He was well respected as an obstetrician and lecturer, and published a number of papers on obstetric matters. Wood was particularly known for his revival of an old method of treatment of placenta praevia - completely detaching the placenta to control the haemorrhage. Wood was a member of the Medico-Chirurgical Society of London and of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. He was also known as a poet. Wood died on 16 December 1830 aged 45 from cardiac failure resulting from chronic bronchitis. His son John succeeded him in practice.

See also MMC/1/WoodK .