Margaret Ida Balfour

Margaret Ida Balfour, FRCOG (21 April 1866 – 1 December 1945) was a Scottish medical doctor and campaigner for women’s medical health issues, who made a significant contribution to the development of medicine in India. Her prolific writing during the early 20th century alerted many to the health needs of women and children in India and Africa and the unhealthy environments in which they lived.

Early life and education

Margaret Balfour, daughter of Frances Grace Blaikie (1820–1891) and Scottish accountant Robert Balfour (1818–1869), both from Aberdeenshire, was born in Edinburgh in 1866. Balfour may have been driven to pursue a medical career as a result, and she was described as having 'extraordinary determination and intelligence' and 'the iron hand within the velvet glove if she wanted something she would persist' at a time when few woman studied medicine. Balfour studied at Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women under Sophia Jex-Blake and qualified as a doctor in 1891, although women were not permitted to formally graduate from the University of Edinburgh, so she went to France and Belgium to do so.

Career and research

Balfour's first role in India was as manager of the Zenana Hospital in Ludhiana, where she had to confront the local 'purdah' tradition for women in labour in sometimes insanitary facilities, and went from educating local 'midwives'

Balfour's success in these roles led to her appointment as assistant to the Inspector General of Civil Hospitals, Punjab, in 1914. Two years later, she became the Chief Medical Officer of the newly formed Women’s Medical Service, a post she held until 1924.

Balfour ended her formal work in India in 1924 and returned to the UK, where she was appointed a CBE. Also that year, Balfour became a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. In 1930, Balfour published results of an investigation into maternity conditions among female mill-workers in Bombay and became one of the founding members of the Overseas Association of the Medical Women’s Federation.

During the Second World War, Balfour became an ARP medical officer in London and a member of the National Council of Women.

Recognition and awards Balfour was awarded the Gold Kaisar-i-Hind Medal in 1920. The Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology made her a Fellow. In 1929 she became president of the all-India Association of Medical Women. And she was made a CBE.