Ｔｈｅ Ｆｕｌｆｉｌｌｅｄ Ｌｉｆｅ ｏｆ ａ Ｄｅｄｉｃａｔｅｄ Ｄｏｃｔｏｒ

The 98-year-old Professor Liu Tianxiang is the founder of the Zhejiang Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital.

Liu Tianxiang was born in January 1910 in Tianjin. Her father， a railway worker with a background of overseas education and a speaker of foreign languages， allowed his daughter to receive formal school education. In September 1932， Liu Tianxiang entered the medical school of Shandong Qilu University. After seven years’ diligent studies， she graduated with the honor of the second best graduate and received the doctoral degree from Toronto Medical College of Canada.

With the knowledge of Chinese women suffering gynecological diseases and dangers in giving birth to babies， Liu Tianxiang decided to be a doctor to deliver babies safely and cure women of their diseases.

She studied in various hospitals and became an experienced doctor. During the war years she experienced difficulties as a doctor. She remembered delivering babies under hard situations. Often enough she found herself help laboring women while Japanese bombs blasted nearby.

In February， 1949， Liu Tianxiang was asked to go to Taiwan. All the airline tickets for her family were booked. But she declined. With the help of some Communists， she left Nanjing and came to Hangzhou and set up the city’s first obstetrics and genecology department. Shortly after her arrival， she performed the city’s very first cesarean delivery. The woman in labor， carried into the hospital on a bamboo bed， was in a critical condition and needed a cesarean operation. Liu did it and it was a success. Seeing both the mother and the baby boy safe， the husband knelt on the floor and kowtowed to Liu.

While acting as president of the Zhejiang Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital from 1954 to 1984， Liu also worked as a doctor on a normal duty schedule. Over decades until her retirement， she delivered more than 50，000 babies.

Liu Tianxiang as a practicing doctor offered more than medical services. In her active years as doctor and teacher， she supervised her students over writing academic papers and directed their studies and research programs. Some of her students are prominent professors today. She was also engaged in research for state family planning projects. She was honored many times for her success as both doctor and teacher.

Also in her active years， she was highly prominent as a leader of social organizations. Among many high-ranking positions she has assumed， she was a member of the standing committee for the Zhejiang Provincial People’s Congress for six consecutive terms.

With 750 beds and more than 1，000 employees， the hospital， from day one in 1954， has grown into one of the country’s largest obstetrics and gynecology hospitals over a period of 54 years. Nowadays， the hospital treats 900，000 outpatients and 25，000 inpatients a year.

Despite her full workload and engagement in social activities， she has led a happy family life. Her husband was her college sweetheart and is a doctor specialized in tuberculosis treatment and prevention. Her two sons are leading scientists in their respective fields. Her happiest moment in life nowadays is to chat with her grandsons and great grandchildren in USA through internet.#8194;□