Judith Mary Lumley AM (15 February 1941 – 25 October 2018) had a career as an academic, author, public health advocate and perinatal researcher,[1] retiring as Professor Emerita at La Trobe University in December 2008.[1][2]

Judith Lumley
Photo of Judith Lumley
Judith Lumley at her retirement celebration, 2009
Born
Judith Mary Casey

(1941-02-15)15 February 1941
Died25 October 2018(2018-10-25) (aged 77)
Melbourne, Australia
Alma mater
Known for
  • Improving maternity services in Australia
  • Birth Rites, Birth Rights (1980)
  • Having a Baby in Victoria (1990)
Spouse(s)
  • Peter Lumley
    (m. 1964)
Awards
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions
ThesisThe uses of scalp blood collection in the study of the human fetus (1971)

Early life and education edit

Lumley was born Judith Mary Casey in Cardiff, Wales in 1941.[3] She graduated first from Cambridge University in 1962[4] and married Peter Lumley in 1964, emigrating to Australia a year later.[5] She completed a medical degree at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.[1] She gained her PhD in fetal physiology working on fetal acidosis in labor[3] at the Monash Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology,[1] and became a Fellow of both the UK and Australian Faculties of Public Health Medicine and Professor at La Trobe University.[1]

Career edit

Lumley worked in academic teaching and research in both pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology for several years, before establishing and directing the Victorian Perinatal Data Collection in 1982.[1] In 1988, she chaired the Victorian Ministerial Review of Birthing Services.[1] In 1991 she established a research centre at Monash University, which later moved to La Trobe University.[1][6] Lumley was director of that Centre until 2008, with the exception of two years as Director of the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at Oxford University (1994-1995).[1] Originally called the Centre for the Study of Mothers' and Children's Health, it was later named Mother and Child Health Research,[1] with the name changed to the Judith Lumley Centre in 2013.[7] She retired after the onset of Alzheimer's disease.[8]

Judith Lumley published research in a variety of disciplines and methods, including epidemiology, evaluation of effectiveness and qualitative research. She was an early and longtime contributor to the development of the Cochrane Collaboration.[1] Lumley had three sons.[1] She died in October 2018.

Medical journal editorship edit

Lumley was co-editor of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health from 2000 to 2008,[1][2] and also edited Australian Family Physician for several years.[1]

Books edit

  • Birth Rites, Birth Rights: Childbirth alternatives for Australian parents - by Judith Lumley and Jill Astbury (1980).[9]
  • Prepregnancy care: A manual for practice - edited by Geoffrey Chamberlain and Judith Lumley (1986).[10]
  • Having a baby in Victoria: Final report of the Ministerial Review of Birthing Services in Victoria - Chaired by Judith Lumley (1990).[11]
  • Missing voices: The experience of motherhood - by Stephanie Brown, Jill Astbury, Judith Lumley, Rhonda Small (1994).[12]

Awards and honors edit

Lumley was a life member of the Public Health Association of Australia.[13] Life membership is granted for "exemplary service to the Association."[13]

In 2002, Lumley was awarded the Sidney Sax Public Health Medal, for "more than two decades of work dedicated to the promotion of public health and for her efforts in improving maternal care in Australia."[14] This medal is the Public Health Association of Australia's pre-eminent prize for a person who has made a "notable contribution" to public health in Australia.[14] It is competitive and awarded annually.[14]

Lumley was awarded a position in the 'Smart 100' in 2003.[15] This was a list of "the smartest, most innovative and most creative" people in a variety of fields in Australia organized by The Bulletin magazine.

Lumley was appointed an Honorary Member of the Order of Australia in 2005, cited "for service to promoting public health and improving maternity care in Australia."[16]

The Faculty of Health Sciences of La Trobe University established the Judith Lumley Scholarship for high-achieving higher degree students in maternal and child health research.[1]

In 2013, the name of Mother and Child Health Research at La Trobe University was formally changed to the Judith Lumley Centre.[7]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Public Health Association of Australia. "Emeritus Professor Judith Lumley AM" (PDF). Public Health Association. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Appreciation and thanks to Judith Lumley". Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health. 33 (1): 5. 2009. doi:10.1111/j.1753-6405.2009.00330.x.
  3. ^ a b "Births March 1941". BMD Vol 11a. FreeBMD. p. 652. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  4. ^ Lumley, Judith; Wood, Carl (1973). "Unexpected oxygen tensions in fetal acidosis". Journal of Perinatal Medicine. 1 (3): 166–173. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.633.7698. doi:10.1515/jpme.1973.1.3.166. PMID 4806570. S2CID 37628217.
  5. ^ "Marriages December 1964". BMD Vol 10c. Free BMD. p. 55. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  6. ^ "VicHealth- Centres of Excellence". VicHealth. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  7. ^ a b Judith Lumley Centre. "Name change and new research program". La Trobe University. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  8. ^ Bastian, Hilda (January 2014). "Voices, silence, strength and Judith Lumley: a women in science mentoring tale". PLOS Blogs. PLOS. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  9. ^ Lumley, J; Astbury, J (1980). Birth Rites, Birth Rights: Childbirth alternatives for Australian parents. West Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Sphere.
  10. ^ Chamberlain G, Lumley J, ed. (1986). Prepregnancy care: A manual for practice.
  11. ^ Having a baby in Victoria: Final report of the Ministerial Review of Birthing Services in Victoria. Melbourne: Health Department Victoria. 1990.
  12. ^ Brown, Stephanie; Astbury, J; Lumley, J; Small, R (1994). Missing voices: The experience of motherhood. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. OCLC 474987612.
  13. ^ a b Public Health Association of Australia. "What we do / Life members". Public Health Association of Australia. Archived from the original on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  14. ^ a b c Public Health Association of Australia. "Sidney Sax Public Health Medal". Public Health Association of Australia. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  15. ^ "Australia's Smart 100". Bulletin Magazine. 22 October 2003. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  16. ^ "Professor Judith Mary LUMLEY [H]". It's An Honour. Retrieved 1 July 2021.