Ruth A. Lawrence, MD, a pediatrician and internationally recognized leader in breastfeeding science, passed away on October 12, 2025, at the age of 101. During a career spanning more than seven decades at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), she helped propel breastfeeding from what was once considered a marginal field of medicine into mainstream discipline of clinical practice and scholarly inquiry.
“Dr. Lawrence’s work reshaped how we understand and support infant feeding, and her legacy lives on in every clinician, nurse, and researcher who carries forward her vision,” said Kathy Parrinello, RN, PhD, President and CEO of Strong Memorial Hospital. “Her spirit of persistence, mentorship, and compassion remains woven into the heart of URMC.”
Breaking Barriers in Rochester and New Haven
Born in New York City in 1924, Ruth Lawrence graduated from Antioch College in 1945. Soon afterward, her career in medicine began; in an era when few medical institutions admitted women, she was accepted into the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.
“During my final semester at Antioch, I applied to 10 medical schools,” Lawrence recalled in a 2019 Rochester Review interview. “Many didn’t want women back then. Rochester was the first to respond. I got a letter that said, ‘You must come for an interview. Time and money should be no object.’”
Ruth’s admission to medical school marked the start of both her professional journey and a lifelong partnership. While studying medicine at Rochester, she met her classmate—and future husband—Bob Lawrence. Both earned their medical degrees as members of the Class of 1949 and married the following year, on July 4, 1950. Soon after, Ruth became the first woman offered an internship at Yale University, while Bob was commissioned as a physician in a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) unit during the Korean War.
Her time at Yale, including the internship and subsequent residency, introduced her to leading experts in multiple pediatric fields. Among these practices was “rooming in,” keeping the mother and baby together after birth and promoting breastfeeding—common in New Haven despite the rising popularity of formula feeding in the early 1950s. Driven by her medical curiosity and personal investment, Ruth Lawrence navigated the challenges of residency training as a working mother breastfeeding her first child while caring for newborns—experiences that helped shape her lifelong dedication to pediatrics and neonatology.
When she returned to Rochester, Dr. Bill Bradford, then chair of pediatrics and an associate dean at the University of Rochester, asked her to run the well-baby and preemie nurseries at Strong Memorial Hospital. “It was unusual for a woman to have a job like this, but I had the experience,” Lawrence recalled in a 2019 Rochester Review interview.
That same spirit of innovation soon led her to another first: in 1958, Lawrence established the Poison Control and Drug Information Center, only the second such center in the nation and the first to provide direct, 24/7 advice to the public. Under her leadership as director, it became a vital regional resource serving the Finger Lakes region and handling tens of thousands of calls each year. Many inquiries involved common household poisonings, but the center also guided clinicians and families on medication safety in pregnancy and lactation, environmental exposures, and toxic risks to children.
Lawrence emphasized prevention as much as treatment, advancing public education through health fairs, school programs, and poison-safety training for teachers and first responders. Though the Rochester center ultimately closed in 2010 following state consolidation, its 52-year legacy endures as a model for community-based, accessible emergency medicine—and as an early example of the prevention-focused philosophy that would define Lawrence’s later leadership in breastfeeding and maternal-child health.
As her career continued in pediatrics, newborn care, poison control, and the care of premature and sick neonates, Ruth and Bob Lawrence expanded their family, with Ruth breastfeeding each of their nine children. Her personal and professional experiences converged, strengthening her belief that breastfeeding was both a public health priority and a foundation of maternal and child wellness.
Building a Discipline: Breastfeeding as Medicine
Lawrence began speaking publicly about the benefits of breastfeeding and teaching about “rooming in” and infant feeding practices across Rochester and the state—at a time when formula feeding was dominant and breastfeeding struggles were often dismissed. Her early publications on breastfeeding quickly gained traction, drawing professional colleagues and mothers to seek her expertise and establishing her as a leading authority in the emerging field of lactation medicine.
In 1979, after years of research, teaching, and firsthand experience as a mother, she published Breastfeeding: A Guide for the Medical Profession, which became the definitive physician’s reference on breastfeeding and lactation. Now in its ninth edition and translated into multiple languages, co-authored with her son, Robert M. Lawrence, MD, the textbook has become a cornerstone of medical education worldwide.
Lawrence went on to author more than 200 research papers and, in 1985, founded the Breastfeeding and Human Lactation Study Center at the University of Rochester, serving as its director. The center became a cornerstone for the study and promotion of breastfeeding, reflecting her commitment to improving infant nutrition and maternal health. Additionally, she played a crucial role in developing Rochester’s first neonatal and pediatric intensive care units, significantly advancing care for critically ill newborns and children.
Her legacy endures through the many clinicians she mentored and the URMC Department of Pediatrics’ Division of Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine; established in 2022 as one of the first dedicated divisions of its kind in the world. “Dr. Lawrence was foundational in building the science and advocacy of breastfeeding, and we are proud to continue her legacy,” said Casey Rosen-Carole, MD, MPH, the Division’s chief and one of Lawrence’s former fellows.
Balancing Family and Career Accomplishments
While establishing her career, Lawrence juggled many duties that men of the era did not have to consider.
“My husband used to say, ‘As long as the house is neat, the children are well dressed and in school and doing well, and dinner is on the table, you can do what you want,’ said Lawrence in a 2019 interview, “Erma Bombeck had a famous saying, ‘Don’t let them see you sweat.’ That’s what I felt.”
Indeed, through her seven decades of service, as a career pediatrician, clinical toxicologist, neonatologist, mother of nine, and author and educator, Lawrence didn’t sweat the small stuff. “She did everything with little help -- she would line us up, brush our hair, get us dressed and make our lunches and dinners every day.” Said Lawrence’s daughter, Barbara Asselin, MD, Pediatrician at UR Medicine’s Golisano Children’s Hospital. “She did all the mom things. She was on the PTA and even served as the president for a year or two. She didn’t miss a beat.”
In addition to her career at URMC, Lawrence was a frequent consultant for public health agencies, a voice in national policy dialogues, and an ardent proponent of equity and evidence in infant nutrition.
She chaired or advised numerous boards and initiatives, including the Surgeon General’s Workshop on Breastfeeding and Human Lactation (1984-1985), the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Breastfeeding, the United States Breastfeeding Committee and the International Society for Research on Human Milk and Lactation (1987-1990). She was one of the founding members of and served as president of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (1996–97) and helped launch one of the nation’s earliest fellowship programs in lactation medicine (2014).
Lawrence also received dozens of awards and honors over her long career, including the AAMC Humanism in Medicine Award (1999), the Healthy Children Lifetime Achievement Award (2000), the Susan B. Anthony University Center Lifetime Achievement Award (2001, 2019), the Macy-György Award from the International Society for Research on Human Milk and Lactation (2006), and recognition from numerous local public health and community organizations.
Supporting Dr. Lawrence’s Legacy
Ruth Lawrence’s passing marks the end of an era, but her influence continues in each life she touched, each policy she shaped, each barrier she challenged and each patient served. Her legacy carries forward through the Division of Breastfeeding and Lactation, the learners and leaders she mentored, and through the many families who benefited from her vision.
To honor Lawrence’s many lifetime achievements, her innovation in care for women and children, her commitment to training the next generation, and her connection with the University of Rochester, the was established in June 2024. The fund supports the educational efforts of the Division of Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine, both in its effort to expand fellowship-based training across the world and in local efforts to graduate learners at all levels with a solid foundation in breastfeeding knowledge. Friends and supporters of Lawrence who would like to offer a lasting tribute are encouraged to contribute to this fund.