Ralph Hayward Pomeroy (January 12, 1867 in New York City – August 22, 1925) was an American gynecologist who became posthumously famous for the female sterilization procedure that he had developed and now carries his name as the Pomeroy tubal ligation.
Pomeroy went to Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut and graduated from the Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn.
He became an associate professor at the same institution in 1912, and was one of the founders of the Williamsburg Hospital, Brooklyn.
Its simplicity and effectiveness made the Pomeroy procedure a common choice for female sterilization that is still being used today.
Later, Irving operation was proposed to reduce the failure rate of Pomeroy procedure for female sterilization.