It was founded in 1840 by Robert Bowes Malcolm and boasts James Young Simpson as their most eminent past member.

Numerous presidents have been pioneers in obstetric history, including creators of forceps, Robert Milne Murray and James Haig Ferguson and a founder of antenatal care, John William Ballantyne.

Simpson used ether to relieve labour pains, to the appreciation of many women but the disapproval of some contemporaries and the church.

Thomas Cullen, Howard Kelly of Baltimore and Albert Döderlein of Munich were awarded such fellowships, as was Vasili Vasilievich Stroganoff of Leningrad.

[1] Gustavus Murray, one of the role models for Luke Fildes' painting, The Doctor,[5] made contributions to the journal in its early days.