Catherine Hamlin

Catherine Hamlin was an Australian obstetrician and gynaecologist who dedicated her life to treating women with obstetric fistula, a debilitating condition caused by prolonged or obstructed labour. She moved to Ethiopia in 1959 with her husband Reginald Hamlin and founded the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, which has treated over 60,000 women and become a centre of excellence for fistula care. She was born in 1924 in Sydney, New South Wales, to a family of musicians. She attended Frensham School in Mittagong before studying medicine at the University of Sydney and graduating in 1946. She worked as an obstetrician at St Joseph's Hospital and St George's Hospital before marrying Reginald Hamlin, a physician and medical superintendent at Crown Street Women's Hospital. In 1958, they responded to an advertisement by the Ethiopian government for an obstetrician and gynaecologist to establish a midwifery school at the Princess Tsehay Hospital in Addis Ababa. They arrived in 1959 with their adopted son Richard. They were shocked by the number of women who suffered from obstetric fistula, a condition that was virtually unknown in the developed world. They decided to dedicate their lives to helping these women, who were often shunned by their families and communities. They established the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in 1974, which was the world's first medical centre dedicated exclusively to providing free obstetric fistula repair surgery to poor women. They also trained local doctors and nurses to perform the surgery and established a rehabilitation and reintegration program for the patients. They also founded the Hamlin College of Midwives, which trains midwives to prevent fistula and improve maternal health in rural areas. Catherine Hamlin continued her work after her husband's death in 1993. She also expanded her network of fistula care facilities to five regional hospitals and more than 80 midwifery clinics across Ethiopia. She received many awards and honours for her work, including the Companion of the Order of Australia (1983), the Right Livelihood Award (2009), and the nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize (2014). She died in 2020 at her home in Addis Ababa at the age of 96. She was survived by her son Richard, her daughter Ruth, and her grandchildren.