Background
Baird was born in Greenock in 1899.
Baird was born in Greenock in 1899.
He graduated in medicine from Glasgow University in 1922.
He was professor in obstetrics and gynaecology. His early experiences attending births in the Glasgow slums and in the city"s Royal Maternity Hospital shaped his interest in the social and economic influences on the health of women, their babies, and across generations. He was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in 1935.
He moved to Aberdeen in 1936 as Regius Professor of Midwifery at the University of Aberdeen.
During the next three decades, his main interests were in the areas of clinical practice, service provision and health policy in reproductive health, perinatal and maternal mortality, social obstetrics, sterilisation, induced abortion, and cervical screening. In 1951 he set up the Aberdeen Maternity and Neonatal Databank, which continues today to link all the obstetric and fertility-related events occurring to women from a defined population.
Sir Dugald formally retired in 1965. Sir Dugald and Lady Baird had four children, one of which, Doctorate. Euan Baird, retired as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Schlumberger Limited. in 2003, after a decades-long career with them.
Another son, Doctorate.T. Baird, was instrumental in gaining approval for the use of RU-486 in the United Kingdom as an emergency contraceptive or "morning after pill".
In 1966, the Freedom of the City of Aberdeen was conferred on him and Lady Baird for their contribution to medical science and health in the City and beyond. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Stirling in 1974. The antenatal clinic at Foresterhill had been named after him in 1970.The Dugald Baird Centre for Research on Women"s Health at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital is named in his honour. He is commemorated by a plaque at 38 Albyn Place. The Baird Hospital due to open in Aberdeen in 2020 has been named after him in 2015. The Baird Hospital will offer maternity, gynaecology, breast screening and breast surgery services, as well as a neonatal unit, a centre for reproductive medicine, an operating theatre suite and teaching facilities.
