[1] She was one of five children (three sons and two daughters) of Scottish immigrants James and Elizabeth Baird, née Stephen.

[2] Her father was a Presbyterian minister and a strong supporter of Prohibition; her mother was a member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.

[3] On her return to New Zealand, Cowie set up a medical practice in Invercargill, becoming the first woman doctor to practise in Southland.

[3] During World War I, the couple went to England, and Helen worked in civilian hospitals while James joined the Royal Army Medical Corps.

[3] James Cowie died in 1941 and their son Graham, who had worked in the practice with his parents, was posted overseas with the New Zealand Medical Corps.