Before moving to Birmingham in 1929, four years earlier, she graduated in medicine and held resident posts at the Royal Free Hospital, Windsor Hospital, and the Mother's Hospital in Clapton. In 1930, she was appointed to be the obstetrician at the Sorrento Maternity Home – a small maternity hospital that was designed primarily to care for what were at the time considered social problems, including unmarried mothers. The same year, a unit for the care of premature babies (weight <2.5kg) was established at the Sorrento, and this facility could take care of 10 infants and six mothers at once. This is how the Sorrento Premature Baby Unit was founded.
In 1938, she was joined by her friend Dr Jean Hallum, and together they dealt with the care of the babies and obstetric problems. They also performed their own postmortem examinations and biochemistry, and thanks to their efforts, the hospital expanded and thrived. During 15 years, (between 1931 and 1946), 3,215 premature babies were treated in the unit and by the year 1950 the number of maternity beds had increased to 94. The medical equipment accessible for neonatal care used by Dr Crosse in the 1940s was very easy to operate. For example, the deep open Sorrento cot could be tipped either way on its stand and had an additional cupboard for equipment and the nurse’s gown.
Dr Crosse also advocated, that ‘‘human milk was the best food for preterm infants.’’ – a belief that is still shared by all modern doctors of our age.
At the age of 72, doctor Crosse passed away, but left a huge impact on the way premature babies were treated.
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