International Womens Day
The International Women’s Day movement is striving towards a world that is free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. A world that’s diverse, equitable and inclusive.
One of the key missions within that is to forge inclusive work cultures where women’s careers thrive and their achievements are celebrated.
This got us thinking about the many women who have worked with Adam,Rouilly over the years. Dedicated, passionate women who have played an important role in advancing medical training and education, and whose achievements may not have historically received the wider recognition they deserve.
While many women have played a vital role in the company’s success over its rich 107-year history, we wanted to take the opportunity to highlight two in particular. One who helped pave the way for women in engineering, and another who invented one of our most popular models, which still provides life-saving training around the world.
Pam Underhill 1927 – 2025
International Womens Day
Norwood-born Pam was just 14 years old when she left school and started a fine engineering apprenticeship at Hall’s Engineering in London. The Second World War had not long ended, and while women engineers were at the forefront of a technological revolution during the conflict, they generally resumed their roles as housewives when the men returned.
At the end of the apprenticeship, in 1946, Pam secured employment with Adam,Rouilly as an assistant engineer.
Adam Rouilly Directors, Jenny and Michael Whitebread, were delighted to visit Pam last year, when at the age of 96, she was able to provide fascinating insights into some of the company’s early history and her role within it.
She recalled how she was interviewed for the position by principal founder, Guy Rouilly, accompanied by her mother, before being offered the role making and repairing anatomical models.
Here are some of the memories Pam shared of what she described as a ‘skilled, fascinating and unusual job for a woman at that time’.
“My previous job had been in fine engineering, working to 1000 of an inch. It was quite strenuous standing all day. My new job required less accuracy as the main engineering skill was drilling to the correct diameter and attaching springs, levers, pins and wires.
“My first pay packet was 12 shillings (60p in today’s money and equivalent to £51 per week) which was paid in cash on a Friday in a small brown paper envelope. After a while it went up to 14 shillings. I gave my mother three quarters of my wage. I also needed to pay for travelling from my home in Balham on the tube to Goodge Street, and from there it was a short walk to the Adam,Rouilly offices and workshop at 18 Fitzroy Street.
“Ernest Mason was the Production Manager and he and I were the only engineers employed by Adam,Rouilly. We worked on the first floor. The showroom was on the ground floor and Monsieur Rouilly’s office behind that. Overlooking the back garden was a shed where the first Bedford Nurse Training Dolls were made.
“Happily I became pregnant with our first child but very sadly had to leave my job and that was the end of my engineering career. Women in the 1950s, especially in this type of work, didn’t return to work after having children.
More than 70 years later it is acknowledged that the engineering sector still needs more women. Engineering is highlighted as part of the International Women’s Day campaign as a ‘very fulfilling career with countless opportunities to learn, grow and succeed’.
Sadly, Pam passed away in February. At her funeral this week, her family spoke of a resilient, positive, empathetic wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother who brought a sense of fun and warmth wherever she went. She was married to Keith for 72 years until his death parted them 18 months previously.
Our thoughts are with Pam’s family and we cherish the part she played in the history of Adam,Rouilly.
Elaine Sexton
International Women’s Day
Many of the medical teaching models we manufacture have been developed in partnership with healthcare professionals to support advances in clinical knowledge and training.
This means that as well as the people we employ directly, we’ve also collaborated with many pioneering women who have been at the forefront of industry changes which have improved safety in training and safety in practice.
One such woman is Elaine Sexton. She recently retired after 40 years of nursing, during which she cared for thousands of patients.
After starting her nursing career at Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham, learning Adult and Paediatric nursing, she then went to Guy’s Hospital in London to specialise in Paediatrics, sparking her real passion for nursing with children.
She worked full time while completing a Masters Degree at Birmingham University and raising her own children. A keen fundraiser, Elaine even abseiled off a building only six weeks after giving birth to her second child. She has organised special trips for patients and their parents, including taking children with disabilities abroad as their nurse and parent support.
Adam,Rouilly first became involved with Elaine 25 years ago when, as a nurse at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, she came to us with a design for a new model to assist in the teaching of nasogastric and gastrostomy tube insertion, and enteral feeding, in children.
On reflecting upon her career during her recent retirement, Elaine cited the invention of The Hungry Manikin as one of her proudest achievements.
She said: “A special achievement I feel very proud of is inventing The Hungry Manikin, which is now showcased worldwide to help people who have enteral feeding.
“Back in 2000, I worked with Graham Fowler, then Sales Manager of Adam,Rouilly. The idea behind the model was that the modified dolls that were used in the past to train staff and families, were neither sufficiently realistic nor anatomically correct. It was therefore difficult to simulate positioning the nasogastric or gastrostomy devices.
“The idea of using a Perspex training model was devised, enabling trainees to see when the tube was being passed correctly. My intention was that the information given to parents, children and families was aimed to decrease their anxiety and boost their ability to cope with enteral feeding.”
The Hungry Manikin is still helping healthcare practitioners and families around the world today. This includes being been used in the development of a new course offering families and carers practical hands-on training on how to tube feed children and create an inclusive meal-time experience.
Elaine has travelled the world teaching nursing and authored articles for the British Medical Journal and other publications. She won an award from the Royal College of Nursing for developing the first ever pictorial guides on enteral nutrition and the British Journal of Nursing Outstanding Care Award for helping to develop nursing care packages on parental nutrition. She was a recent recipient of the 40 Years’ Service Award from Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
While Elaine’s contributions have received recognition over the years, we wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate her career achievements, her work to create The Hungry Manikin which continues to help families across the world, and acknowledge her tireless fundraising efforts.
Thank you Pam and thank you Elaine!
International Women’s Day
International Women’s Day
International Women’s Day
