William Charles Wallace Nixon

William Charles Wallace Nixon (22 November 1903 – 9 February 1966) was a Maltese-born professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of London, director of the obstetric unit at University College, and member of the Expert Advisory Committee on Maternity Care for the World Health Organization.

In the 1930s, he set up the first birth control clinic in Hong Kong. He pushed for changes in abortion law, promoted psychological preparedness for childbirth, and wrote and spoke on diet in pregnancy. Unlike many others in his field in his time, his concern over the number of illegal abortions and mental state of women with unwanted pregnancies led him to offer abortions in the NHS before the Abortion Act 1967.

In 1964 he was an expert witness at the Dering v Uris trial.

Early life and education William Nixon was born William Carl Wallace Nixon, on 22 November 1903 in Floriana, Malta, to mathematics professor William Nixon and his wife Melita née Reichelmann. Fear of his German background led his parents to send him to England in 1918 and then to change "Carl" to "Charles" in 1920. In 1927 he received the conjoint.

Early career Nixon completed his first junior surgical posts under Vincent Warren Low, and then Zachary Cope at St Mary's. The following year he resigned to take up a professorship in Hong Kong, where he set up the country's first birth control clinic. He worked there for a few years before returning to England in 1938, when he joined the Soho Hospital for Women and the London County Council as consultant.

Later career In 1943 Nixon was sent to the University of Istanbul, Turkey, where he was appointed professor. In 1954, he called for a survey to compare hospital births with home births. This later led to the perinatal mortality survey of the National Birthday Trust Fund. Unlike many others in his field in the early 1960s, his understanding of the high number of complicated backstreet abortions, and resulting mental illness of women with unwanted pregnancies led him to offer safer abortions in the NHS, before the passing of the 1967 Abortion Act. (By 1920 in the UK, the procedure of induced abortion was generally safe when performed by trained professionals.) By the mid-1960s unsafe abortion was the leading cause of avoidable maternal deaths. Over the course of a decade following the 1967 Abortion Act, gynaecological admissions due to abortion complications dropped significantly and deaths ceased.

Awards and honours The University of Bristol gave Nixon an honorary MD in 1961, and fours later he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

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