Mercia Barnes

This biography was compiled by Daniel Beaumont based on secondary sources and information provided by colleagues of Mercia Barnes.

1955 graduate

Early Life

Mercia Barnes was born in Raetihi in the central North Island, on 8 February 1930. Her parents were Mercia and Lewis Barnes, and her father was an Anglican vicar. She had two siblings, Vaudine and Paul. The family moved south to Timaru early in Mercia’s life, and she attended Craighead Diocesan School. As a child Mercia regularly featured in the local paper for her writing and painting talents. (1) She entered medical intermediate in Otago in 1948 with her family’s support. (2)

During the years following World War II, returned servicemen were given preference for entry into Otago Medical School. Coupled with the lack of sufficient science and maths education available at most girls’ schools until the 1950s, the entry requirements were especially steep for Mercia. She did not achieve a high enough score at the end of her medical intermediate for entry into medical school, so enrolled in a BSc instead. She was awarded a degree in Zoology in 1951 and entered Otago Medical School later that year. (2)

Medical Training

Mercia was one of only 14 women in a class of over 120 people. She did not perceive there being any particular threat or intimidation to her as a woman in medical school, though in an interview she did point out that she experienced “the usual sort of teasing from time to time…” (2) During her time at University, she represented the University of Otago in hockey four years in a row, and was twice a recipient of a New Zealand University Blue award for achieving excellence in sports.

During her training, Mercia became interested in surgery. However, surgery at the time was “a very difficult [speciality] for women to get into”. (2) Despite a steady increase in the number of women doctors working in New Zealand since the beginning of the century, many people expected women medical graduates to work in the school medical service or a GP practice until marriage. Women who did choose to specialise in areas such as surgery regularly faced hostility and prejudice from the public and other doctors based on societal ideas about women’s competency as physicians. (3)

Mercia instead decided to pursue further training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology once she graduated, which would bring her enthusiasm for surgery and women’s health together. Mercia graduated with her MBChB in 1955 and spent her Resident Medical Officer (RMO) years at Wairau Hospital in Blenheim and Cook Hospital in Gisborne. (4)

Career and leadership

Mercia was one of the first women to train in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in New Zealand, beginning her training at St Helen’s Hospital in Christchurch in 1958. In 1959 she became a registrar at Waikato Hospital. (2)

In 1962, Mercia travelled to London, working as a ship’s doctor on her journey, for further training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. By the end of the year had she successfully passed her exams to become a member of Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (MRCOG). She returned to New Zealand at the end of 1962 to enter private practice. In 1964 she worked for Bob Gudex in his hospital and private practice. In 1965, she became a consultant at Waikato Hospital. (5) For the next 30 years she was Hamilton’s only woman gynaecologist. (5)

Mercia was heavily involved in her wider medical community. She became a Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Fellow and served as secretary of the New Zealand Council of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists in 1979. She served on various committees, including the Waikato Hospital library committee, and sat on the Board of Management of the Australian New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. She also served on the Medical Advisory Board of the Medical Protection Society, a nonprofit which provides legal advice to medical professionals. Beyond this, she was involved with Red Cross and the Federation of University Women. (5)

In 1982 New Zealand established the Royal New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RNZCOG), and Mercia became the college’s first secretary. The RNZCOG faced harsh scrutiny during the Cartwright Inquiry of 1987-88, which exposed unethical experiments certain obstetricians and gynaecologists had carried out at the National Women’s Hospital in 1966. The findings of this inquiry lowered public trust in the country’s medical institutions, and it was in the wake of this fallout that Mercia was invited to become the first female president of the College. Mercia did not publicly comment on the inquiry and served as President from 1991 to 1994. (5) Now in the later stage of her career, she divided her time between hospital practice and college work, giving up her private practice.

Outside of medicine, Mercia’s interests included ornithology, coaching hockey, and working with her local church. (4)

Untimely death

In 1994, weeks after completing her first term in office, Mercia died suddenly while performing major gynaecological surgery. She was 64 years of age. At her funeral, her friends recalled her skill as a surgeon, relentless work ethic, and keen intellect. (5) In 1993 the RNZCOG had begun planning a research trust to support research into women’s health. Soon after her death, her colleagues named it the Mercia Barnes Trust, dedicated to recognising her contribution to Obstetrics and Gynaecology and promoting research into women’s health. It has been operating for over 30 years. (6)

Bibliography

1. Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21634, 20 April 1940, Page 6; Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21795, 26 October 1940, Page 11. Paper’s Past.
2. Interview with Margaret Scratchley, date unknown. Transcript courtesy Alistair Haslam, 2021.
3. The Goods Train Doctors: Stories of Women Doctors in New Zealand, 1920 – 1993. New Zealand Medical Women’s association. Ed. Jill McIlraith. 1993.
4. “Obituary: Mercia Annette Barnes” New Zealand Medical Journal, (22 March 1995): 113.
5. Funeral Address, 1994, courtesy Alexander Haslam.
6. “Mercia Barnes Trust Research Grants” https://ranzcog.edu.au/resources/mercia-barnes-trust-research-grants/