Margaret Myles
Margaret 'Fraser Myles', née Findlay, was a Scottish midwife, midwifery tutor and lecturer and author. She is globally known for her Textbook for Midwives, first published in 1953, which has been considered a reference midwifery textbook for decades.
Early years
Myles was born on 30 December 1892 in Aberdeen, Scotland, to Robert Fraser Findlay, a house painter, and Mary, née McDougall. After finishing her secondary education, she emigrated to Canada where she found training at a small Hospital in Yorktown, Saskatchewan as a nurse. While there, she married Charles James Myles in 1920 and they had a son, Ian in 1921. He was a farmer and army officer during World War I, who died shortly after the birth of their son. After her husband's passing, she proceeded to return to Scotland with Ian, where they lived with her parents as she worked as a nurse in rural Aberdeen. Soon after their move, she lost her son to pneumonia in 1924.Career
After the loss of her son, Myles left her position as a district nurse at Alford, Aberdeenshire and decided to re-train as a Registered General Nurse at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh from 1924-1927. Following this time, the hospital where she received her initial training in, Canada invited her back as a matron. Myles proceeded to continue her education at McGill University, studying education in nursing, later receiving appointment as a senior tutor at the Postgraduate Hospital in Philadelphia and the director of midwifery education of the Women's Hospital, Detroit.In 1935, Margaret moved back to London where she worked at City Road Hospital before continuing to further her education. Later in 1937, Myles received a Midwife Teacher's Diploma from and became the midwifery tutor to the new Simson Memorial Maternity Pavilion in the Scottish capital, where she practiced until her retirement in 1954. Additionally, she served as the examinar to the Central Midwives Board and helped to educate many others in the field.