James Blundell (physician)

James Blundell (27 December 1790, in Holborn, London – 15 January 1878, in St George Hanover Square, London) was an English obstetrician who performed the first successful transfusion of human blood to a patient for treatment of a hemorrhage.

Like his uncle, who had developed several instruments still used today for the delivery of babies, James specialized in the field of obstetrics.

[2] By 1818, he succeeded his uncle and became the lecturer on both subjects at Guy's Hospital where his classes on obstetrics and the diseases of women were reported to be the largest in London.

Over the course of five years, he conducted ten documented blood transfusions, five of which were beneficial to the patients, and published these results.

He became the author of Researches Physiological and Pathological in 1824 and wrote two papers on abdominal surgery and blood transfusion, both edited by S. Ashwell.

Later publications include Principles and Practice of Obstetrics in 1834 and Observations on some of the More Important Diseases of Women in 1837.

He became a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1838, and later published Hexametrical Experiments, or, A version of four of Virgil's pastorals... with hints to explain the method of reading, and a slight essay on the laws of meter that year.

His will, dated 11 April 1857 with a codicil of 27 March 1876, was proven on 29 January by his nephew Dr. George Augustus Frederick Wilks.