Miriam Stoppard

Miriam Stoppard, OBE (née Stern and subsequently Miriam Moore-Robinson, born 12 May 1937) is an English doctor, author, television presenter and advice columnist.

Early life and medical career

Miriam was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland. Her parents were Orthodox Jews.[1] Her father Sidney was a nurse and her mother Jenny worked for the Newcastle school dinners service.

As a girl, with a family of modest means, Stoppard was brought-up in a prefab on a large council housing estate. Her mother was a dressmaker who taught Miriam how to make her own clothing, and from an early age she bought remnants of cloth with her pocket-money. Up until her teens she fashioned her own designs complemented with cheap and improvised accessories.[2]

As a teenager she attended school on a scholarship and was shy. Inspired by her father, she had early aspirations to become a doctor, a profession traditionally dominated by males. She had a very ordered mindset and worked very hard, establishing her own study timetables during the week but attending the local youth club at weekends where she enjoyed music, danced and played table tennis.[2]

She attended the Central High School in Eskdale Terrace and trained as a nurse at the Newcastle General Hospital (Royal Free Medical School). She went on to study medicine at King's College, Durham (which became Newcastle University in 1963). After qualifying as a doctor she worked at the city's Royal Victoria Infirmary and specialised in dermatology as a senior registrar at Bristol Royal Infirmary. She then became a research director and then managing director in the pharmaceutical industry for Syntex.

Television presenter

Stoppard became well known during the 1970s and 1980s as a television presenter on scientific and medical programmes such as Don't Ask Me and Where There's Life.

Writing

Stoppard has written several books about health, including the Children's Medical Handbook, but particularly on the subject of women's health.

She writes on health issues and acts as an agony aunt for the Daily Mirror, having previously answered readers' letters for The TV Times magazine. Her company, Miriam Stoppard Lifetime, sells her books and health products.

Stoppard was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours for services to healthcare and charity.[3]

In August 2012, writing in the Daily Mirror, Stoppard supported UCL’s Institute of Child Health research[4] which suggested reviewing the recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding until six months, adding that the appearance of teeth should signal the end of breastfeeding.[5]

Family

From 1972 to 1992 she was married to the playwright Tom Stoppard. One of her sons is the actor Ed Stoppard.

Her niece is the former MP Oona King who unsuccessfully contested the Labour Party nomination for Mayor of London in 2010.[6]

Popular culture

Stoppard was mentioned in the 1986 song "Architecture and Morality Ted and Alice" by the band Half Man Half Biscuit on The Trumpton Riots EP: "The horrible sincerity of Miriam Stoppard makes me want to go out and commit mass murder". She was named Journalist of the Year at the Stonewall Awards[7] on 6 November of that year.

References

  1. ↑ Parenting – Life & Style Home. Sydney Morning Herald. (22 November 2006).
  2. 1 2 Sunday Express magazine supplement 23 October 2011, p.55 Accessed and added 8 January 2015
  3. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 59282. p. 12. 31 December 2009.
  4. ↑ Is 'breast only' for first six months best?. Ucl.ac.uk (14 January 2011).
  5. ↑ Dr Miriam Stoppard column When should you stop breast-feeding?. Daiy Mirror (14 August 2012).
  6. ↑ "100 things we didn't know this time last year". BBC News (30 December 2005).
  7. ↑ Stonewall Awards 2008. Stonewall.org.uk (27 March 2009).

External links

Video clips

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