Tom Lewis, who has died aged 85, was a much respected obstetrician and gynaecologist, a meticulous surgeon and highly accomplished teacher; he trained and influenced generations of obstetrician-gynaecologists, and witnessed during his long career many changes, with the advent of ultrasound, foetal epidural analgesia, minimally invasive surgery and foetal monitoring in labour. Thomas Loftus Townshend Lewis was born at Hampstead on May 27 1918, although he always regarded himself as a South African of Welsh origin. A J S Lewis, Tom Lewis's grandfather, was a civil servant who became mayor of Cape Town and was ordained in the Anglican Church on retirement.

His son, Neville Lewis, Tom's father, went from South Africa to London to study art at the Slade, where he met and married a fellow art student from Dublin. The marriage broke up in 1922, leaving Neville Lewis with three children under five, including Tom, then aged four.

The children were sent to Cape Town, where Tom was brought up, from the ages of four to 15, by A J S Lewis and his wife Annie Solomon. Young Tom went to the Diocesan College, Rondebosch, where an excellent education was complemented by a good grounding in rugby and boxing. Every two or three years, his father would arrive unannounced from England, and they would drive across South Africa to paint the local people.

On one occasion, a spear was thrown through a painting which was thought to be removing part of the soul of the subject. Tom and his father immediately destroyed the offending picture.

In 1933 Tom's father and his second wife, Vera Player, bought a house in Cheyne Row, Chelsea, and sent for him. For the next three years he attended St Paul's School, after which he studied Medicine at Jesus College, Cambridge, and Guy's Hospital Medical School, qualifying in 1942.

While a student at Guy's, he obtained the Gold Medal in Obstetrics, despite being told not to enter for it as he stood no chance of success. He was so irritated by this prediction that he worked day and night to ensure that the prize was his.

In 1943 Lewis travelled in a convoy by ship to Cape Town and enlisted in the South African Air Force as a doctor, but was then seconded to the RAMC and went on to serve in Egypt, Italy and Greece. His father, meanwhile, as war artist to the South African Army, painted Montgomery.

Lewis returned to Guy's after the war, obtaining his FRCS diploma in 1946, an examination which he took in uniform, and the MRCOG diploma in 1948. That year, just before the formation of the National Health Service, he was appointed consultant to Guy's Hospital. Two years later he became consultant to Queen Charlotte's Maternity Hospital and Chelsea Hospital for Women.

He served three terms on the council of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists; he was its honorary secretary between 1961 and 1968, and was senior vice-president from 1975 to 1978.

In 1970 he was Sims Black Travelling Professor, visiting and lecturing in Australia and New Zealand. He was also president of the obstetric section of the Royal Society of Medicine.

In addition, Lewis served as Consultant Gynaecologist to the Army and examiner to the universities of Cambridge, London and St Andrews, the Society of Apothecaries and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. He was appointed CBE in 1979.

He continued to serve the National Health Service until the age of 65 and then remained in private practice for several years.

A keen member of the Gynaecological Club, a society composed mainly of British and Irish obstetrician-gynaecologists, Lewis attended almost every meeting, and was an enthusiastic participant at the meeting in Prague in September 2003.

Lewis was the author of three textbooks of obstetrics and gynaecology, and his Progress in Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology became a classic in its field.

He had a lifelong interest in boxing, rugby, rowing and skiing - he was still skiing at the age of 79. He captained the Guy's rugby team from 1946 to 1948, and in 1948 had a trial with England.

He was chosen to play against France, but had to miss the game as he contracted infective hepatitis. He continued playing rugby into his forties, when he switched to golf; he was a keen member of the Royal Wimbledon Golf Club.

Before going away to war, Tom Lewis had met a very attractive young student nurse at Guy's, Alexandra Moore, known as "Bunty", whom he married upon his return. They later built a holiday home on Elba, where he enjoyed viniculture; he was also an authority on fungi and astronomy.

He is survived by his wife and five sons.