Mike Pawson: obstetrician and gynaecologist who reflected on the psychological aspects of fertility and pregnancy

The charismatic obstetrician and gynaecologist Mike Pawson specialised in the psychosomatic aspects of infertility and how psychology and mental health can affect pregnancy. He advocated change—not through gruff, uncompromising defiance of the mainstream, but with a friendly, engaging manner and a smile.

His former colleague Martin Lupton, vice dean (education), faculty of medicine, Imperial College, London, and a consultant obstetrician, said, “I don’t think he minded if people thought he was off beam. He just thought he was right.”

Specialists often analyse what has led them to their chosen careers, but Pawson might have elevated this speculation to a new level. His daughter Lara said that he believed giving birth was the best thing any human being could do, and he wanted to be as close as possible to the process.

He further explained his motivations in the book Inconceivable Conceptions: Psychological Aspects of Infertility and Reproductive Technology.1 Fellow contributors included the novelist Hilary Mantel, author of the Wolf Hall trilogy, and Germaine Greer, author of The Female Eunuch.

In his chapter, “The battle with mortality and the urge to procreate,” Pawson asked: …