Page 10 - Women Unlimited | Rochester Medicine | University of Rochester Medical Center

Cover Story: Women, Unlimited

Ruth Lawrence was the first woman ever to be preeminent reference for clinicians worldwide since its
offered an internship in pediatrics at Yale University— 1979 publication.
but she wasn’t quick to accept, which prompted her
summons to the office of George Hoyt Whipple, MD, Meanwhile, the mother of nine managed
founding dean of the University of Rochester School of responsibilities she knew the men in her life—at home
Medicine and Dentistry. He was on the phone with the and at work—did not have to consider.
medical school dean at Yale. “My husband used to say, ‘As long as the house is neat,

Ruth recalls: “He was saying, ‘Hey look, George, we the children are well dressed and in school and doing
took a risk. We said we’d take a female and she hasn’t well, and dinner is on the table, you can do what you
answered us.’ With Dr. Whipple looking down at me, want,” she says, smiling about it now. “Erma Bombeck
I said, ‘Well, I’d love to come to New Haven.’” had a famous saying, ‘Don’t let them see you sweat.’
That’s what I felt.”
That internship, followed by a residency also at Yale,
exposed Ruth—who wore a white coat just like her She had to put the kids to bed, so was unable to attend
male peers but was tasked with weaning her first nightly club meetings with other pediatricians. And
child at 3 months to get back to work—to some of she was in charge of the university hospital nursery,
the greatest minds and practices in pediatrics. One of a job her male colleagues did not want—but one that
those practices was breastfeeding, common in New ultimately helped her pioneer neonatology as a specialty.
Ruth A. Lawrence Haven even as physicians at the time, in the early ’50s, Over her seven decades of experience as a pediatrician,
(MD ’49, Res ’58) were urging patients to feed their babies formula. clinical toxicologist, and neonatologist—a storied
Comfortable around breastfeeding because she’d career earning her two lifetime achievement awards—
Northumberland Trust Professor in Lawrence has seen women go from “keeping our
Pediatrics seen her mother nurse her siblings, Lawrence dug into
Professor of Obstetrics and research in earnest once in her post-doctoral residency heads down” to being able to “speak up and challenge
Gynecology in pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical leadership.”
University of Rochester School of Center, where, she says, “if a woman spoke up [for Given her achievements over the years, she recognizes
Medicine and Dentistry herself] she was apt to be punished for it.” she has had a role to play in that evolution—a role
Founder (1985) and Medical Director that led to her accepting the Charles Force Hutchison
of the Breastfeeding and Human She wrote articles on the benefits of breastfeeding,
Lactation Study Center, Golisano and word spread. Soon she was being sought out and Marjorie Smith Hutchison Medal, which recognizes
Children’s Hospital by the wives of doctors who had read her work and alumni for outstanding achievement and notable
wanted help breastfeeding their infants. Attention service, earlier this year.
swelled, and Lawrence went on to become an “I’ve never looked at myself as a disruptor,” she says,
international expert in the field of breastfeeding “but I hope I have helped a lot of women overcome
medicine. Her book, Breastfeeding: A Guide for whatever obstacles are in front of them.”
the Medical Profession, continues to be the

Personal ‘Herstories’ of Pediatrics in Rochester

Fifty years ago, when Elizabeth McAnarney, MD, arrived at the University of
Rochester, there were no female professors in the Department of Pediatrics.
Now, more than half of the department’s executive cabinet members are female—
and more than two dozen females hold the title of professor.

A new book, spearheaded by McAnarney, celebrates the women in the department
who helped bring about the cultural shift responsible for that progress. Women of
Rochester Pediatrics: In Their Own Words, written by Nancy Wharton Bolger, is
a rich look at the personal and professional lives of some of the Department of
Pediatrics’ most admired leaders.

“As each recounts her story, through interviews with the author, one hears
similar themes of optimism, hope, and confidence despite many professional

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