South Sydney Women's Hospital

South Sydney Women’s Hospital was a maternity hospital that provided midwifery and maternity care, particularly to poor and unmarried women. It was founded in Newtown (Camperdown) 1905 by George and Louisa Ardill and the Sydney Rescue Work Society and had been the Home of Hope for Friendless and Fallen Women. It trained midwives and was a place where adoptions were arranged. It closed in 1976.

South Sydney Women’s Hospital began as the Home of Hope for Friendless and Fallen Women. The Home of Hope was established by George Edward Ardill in the 1890, in Newtown (Camperdown) as a rescue home and lying-in facility for unmarried pregnant women. When Ardill incorporated the Sydney Rescue Work Society in 1890 the home became a flagship of the new organisation.

Ardill’s wife Louisa was the matron of the lying-in home and was a pioneer of midwifery. The Home was renamed South Sydney Women’s Hospital in 1905. It became one of the most important midwife-training hospitals in Sydney, and provided outreach services to women in the working class suburbs of Newtown, Glebe, Petersham and Forest Lodge. It was also a place where adoptions were arranged.

In around 1911, Louisa Ardill established the Training School for Midwifery Nurses as part of South Sydney Women’s Hospital. This was a highly significant institution in the history of midwifery in Sydney. It offered an outreach service to poor women and its graduates went on to work in a range of roles. It closed when South Sydney Women’s Hospital closed in 1976. The building was subsequently demolished.

South Sydney Women’s Hospital was mentioned in the Commonwealth Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices Inquiry (2012) as an institution that was involved in forced adoption.