AIMS Journal, 2022, Vol 34, No 4
To read or download this Journal as a PDF. Please click here.
Obituary by Beverley Lawrence Beech
Elizabeth acted as Secretary of AIMS from 1980–1983. She did so at a time when the AIMS Journal was printed on a Roneo machine that required each page to be typed onto a waxed sheet which was laid out on a drum rotated by hand. The pile of pages was then collated, also by hand. If one wanted to check on a particular birth intervention it would involve visiting a local university library, or writing to a friendly midwife, or doctor, to gain the information - there was no internet to help.
Elizabeth was the first point of contact for women wanting help or information, and during her time as AIMS Secretary she answered thousands of letters and phone calls, determined to help women get the kind of care they wanted, at a time when the main means of communication was the telephone, faxes or letters. Her letters were always full of information, warmth and encouragement. She regularly contributed to the AIMS Quarterly Journals, highlighting the contacts she was having with often desperate women, as well as reviewing books and commenting on current issues.
Her voluntary work for AIMS was supported by her husband, the Reverend David John Cockerell, now retired. She leaves three children, Robert, Mary and Elspeth, and four grandchildren. She will be sadly missed and fondly remembered by those of us in AIMS who worked with her and the hundreds of women and families she helped.
The AIMS Journal spearheads discussions about change and development in the maternity services..
AIMS Journal articles on the website go back to 1960, offering an important historical record of maternity issues over the past 60 years. Please check the date of the article because the situation that it discusses may have changed since it was published. We are also very aware that the language used in many articles may not be the language that AIMS would use today.
To contact the editors, please email: journal@aims.org.uk
We make the AIMS Journal freely available so that as many people as possible can benefit from the articles. If you found this article interesting please consider supporting us by becoming an AIMS member or making a donation. We are a small charity that accepts no commercial sponsorship, in order to preserve our reputation for providing impartial, evidence-based information.
AIMS supports all maternity service users to navigate the system as it exists, and campaigns for a system which truly meets the needs of all.