Cyril V. Pink

Cyril V. Pink
Born	1894
Died	1965
Occupation(s)	Obstetrician, writer

Cyril Valentine Pink (1894–1965) M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. was a British obstetrician, naturopath, Theosophist, and vegetarianism activist. Pink was an early medical advocate of natural childbirth. He was the co-founder of Stonefield Maternity Home and was a disciple of Maximilian Bircher-Benner.

Biography

Pink qualified MRCS and LRCP in 1917 from St Thomas' Hospital.^[1] He was House Surgeon at St. Thomas Hospital and General Lying-in Hospital, York Road. In 1920, Pink co-founded Stonefield Maternity Home in Blackheath, London with Dr. William H. White.^[2][3] Pink was a specialist in obstetrics for many years at Stonefield Maternity Home.^[1][4] He conducted clinical trials on babies at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital and the Stonefield Maternity Home.

Pink was concerned about animal welfare and was an anti-vivisectionist.^[4][5] He defended naturopathy and was influenced by the dietary views of Maximilian Bircher-Benner.^[2][6][7]

Pink was a theosophist and lectured at Bath Theosophical Lodge.^[2][8][9] He admitted he was on the fringe when it came to medicine and held unorthodox opinions about disease.^[6] For example, he believed in the existence of etheric matter that forms part of the physical body but etheric dirt can damage the etheric body.^[10] Pink believed that infectious diseases were the result of etheric dirt damaging the etheric body from disobedience of nature's laws. He advocated methods of natural hygiene such as consuming a vegetarian diet, drinking water, keeping good sanitation and taking in pure air.^[10]

His brother Wilfred Langrish Pink was an otolaryngologist in South Africa.^[11]

Vegetarianism

At Stonefield Maternity Home, Pink advised all his patients to be vegetarian.^[12] Pink promoted a lacto-vegetarian diet rich in fruit and uncooked vegetables as a matter of routine in pregnancy.^[12] He argued that vitamin B is best obtained from wholemeal bread and wheat germ.^[12] He stated that a vegetarian diet offered a high degree of immunity from two serious complications of childbirth, toxemia of pregnancy (pre-eclampsia) and sepsis.^[12] He reported successful results of children doing well on a plant-based diet under his care that were featured in The Vegan magazine.^[13]

Pink lectured on vegetarianism.^[14] In 1939, he became President of the Croydon Vegetarian Society.^[15] He was Secretary of the Somerset Vegetarian Society.^[16]

Selected publications

• The Ideal Management of Pregnancy (1930)
• The Foundations of Motherhood (1941)
• Mother Child and Diet (1947)
• Your Child and Diet (1950)
• Status of Naturopathy (1951)
• Homeopathy and Obstetrics (1953)
• Spiritual Healing in Hospitals (1960)
• Yoga and the Heart (1961)
• Feeding the Vegetarian Baby (with Mrs. Cyril, 1962)

References