Smellie, William (1697-1763)

British obstetrician. Smellie wrote a Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Midwifery (1752), in which he described the mechanism of childbirth more accurately than anyone previously. He also laid down safe rules regarding the use of forceps (of which he introduced several types). He subsequently wrote two supplementary volumes of case reports in 1754 and 1764. Smellie was the dominating figure among the obstetricians of his period.

Smellie was born in Lanark, Scotland. He studied medicine at Glasgow University and began to practise as a surgeon and apothecary in Lanark in 1720. He settled in London, England, in 1739, and two years later began to teach midwifery at his house.