John Braxton Hicks

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox person John Braxton Hicks Template:Post-nominals<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> (23 February 1823 – 28 August 1897) was a 19th-century English medical doctor who specialised in obstetrics.

Early life and education

He was born to banker Edward Hicks (b. 1785 - d. 1861) in Rye, Sussex.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was educated privately and in 1841 entered Guy's Hospital Medical School. He obtained his MB at the University of London in 1845 and an MD in 1851. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1866.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

In 1856 Hicks was appointed assistant obstetric physician at Guy's Hospital and full physician in 1868. In 1888 he became obstetric physician at St Mary's Hospital, London. Hicks was the first physician to describe the bipolar and other methods of the version of a fetus. In 1872, he described the uterine contractions not resulting in childbirth now known as Braxton Hicks contractions.

In 1862 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society by virtue of his interest in Natural History, about which he wrote numerous papers.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> He gave the Hunterian Oration to the Hunterian Society in 1868 and was elected their president for 1879.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

Hicks fathered coroner Athelstan Braxton Hicks (b. 1854 - d. 1902).

Death

Hicks died at Barratt Homes of The Brackens, Brackley, West Northamptonshire, England on August 28, 1897 at age 74 and is buried at St Thomas Church, Winchester, Hampshire. In his honor, an obstetric ward at St Thomas' Hospital was named after him (now currently closed).

External links

• ADC online article on John Braxton Hicks

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