Access to the shared RCOG and RCM Heritage Collections
Access to the Collections is temporarily paused until Spring/Summer 2026 as we undertake a planned period of service development.
During this time, we are unable to offer guided tours or respond to research enquiries.
You are welcome to email heritage@rcog.org.uk, and we will retain your enquiry and respond as soon as possible once the service reopens.
We appreciate your patience and look forward to welcoming researchers and visitors again in due course.
The College holds significant historical material tracing the development of the specialties of obstetrics, gynaecology and midwifery.
This includes key practitioners in these fields, and the establishment of both the RCOG and the Royal College of Midwives, whose heritage material augments the RCOG’s collections.
Some highlights of the collections are:
- the very first examples of obstetric forceps, created and kept secret by the Chamberlen family in the early 17th century;
- sixty original notebooks of obstetrician and gynaecologist Robert Barnes (1817-1907);
- several copies of the first printed book on midwifery, Rösslin’s 16th century work Rosengarten and its English translation as The Byrth of Mankynde;
- the 1555 edition of Vesalius’s De Humani Corporis Fabrica.
Heritage collections research appointments and guided tours are by appointment only – contact heritage@rcog.org.uk to book.
Please suggest a number of dates as availability to Heritage services is largely limited to Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Temporary Exhibition
‘Clips and coils: A history of contraception’ can be seen in the Union Street atrium, outside the Arulkumaran Reading and Quiet Room.
Highlights include two new donations from retired College Fellows: 26 IUDs (including the only one known to have been designed by a woman) and Marcus Filshie’s eponymous sterilisation clip.
Also on display are examples of 19th- and early-20th-century irrigators and 1970s contraceptive pills.
Archives
Find out what the Archives hold, and read some of the fascinating stories behind the items in our collection.
Museum
Find out more about the Museum and highlights of the collection.
Developing the collections
We welcome offers of material to develop the collections of both the RCOG and RCM, which relate to the history of obstetrics, gynaecology and midwifery.
Decisions on accepting donations will be dependent on our collecting policies, including checking existing collections, the condition of the material, and whether we can suitably look after an item.
To discuss, please contact heritage@rcog.org.uk including as much information – provenance, size, images – as possible.
Family historians
If your ancestor was an obstetrician, gynaecologist or midwife, information in the RCOG Library and Archives could help you find out more about their life and work, or else we may be able to direct you to useful resources.
Volunteer with RCOG Heritage
We’re always looking for volunteers to assist us in our work. Contact us at heritage@rcog.org.uk to discuss what’s involved and current opportunities.
Heritage Policies
Heritage Collections Governance
See here for information about our Heritage Committee.
Contact us
To contact the Heritage team, please email heritage@rcog.org.uk and we will retain your enquiry and respond as soon as possible once service reopens.
We welcome your feedback about your visit with us. If you would like to make comments or suggestions, please complete this form.
Elsewhere on the site
The history of the RCOG and the development of the specialty of O&G
Find out about the RCOG’s current work to improve women’s health care worldwide