Pioneering nurses who were 'snubbed' for their part in world's first IVF baby will finally be remembered
manchestereveningnews.co.ukTwo ‘forgotten’ nurses who played a key role in pioneering the world’s first test tube baby have finally been recognised more than 40 years on.
Louise Brown was the world’s first in-vitro fertilised baby and was born at The Royal Oldham Hospital on July 25, 1978. While the pioneers of IVF in Oldham are most widely known as scientist Robert Edwards and medic Patrick Steptoe, two overlooked female nurses also played crucial roles. READ MORE: 'We will never stop standing up and shouting for our rights': Hundreds take to the streets of Manchester to champion International Women's Day Now a commemorative plaque has been unveiled at The Royal Oldham Hospital to honour the work of Jean Purdy and Sister Muriel Harris, who were snubbed when an original plaque was installed in Kershaw’s Cottage Hospital naming only the male doctors in 1981.
Archive letters were uncovered in 2019 which revealed their names had been omitted, with the wording of the plaque authorised by the Oldham Area Health Authority only recognising the two male doctors, and ‘supporting staff’, despite protestations from Dr Edwards.
Nurse embryologist Ms Purdy had worked with Dr Edwards for ten years, and it was she who first saw that the fertilised egg, which was to become Louise Brown, was dividing to make new cells.
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