Dr. Rustom Phiroze Soonawala (also known as Rustom P. Soonawala or R.P. Soonawala; 4 December 1928 – January 2025) was a pioneering Indian obstetrician and gynaecologist. He received the Padma Shri in 1991 for his contributions to family planning and women’s health.

Born into a medical family in Mumbai, young Rustom often accompanied his father to the clinic. Dinner-table conversations revolved around anaesthesia, surgical techniques and X-ray reports. It was no surprise that he chose medicine. He earned his MD, FRCS, FRCOG and FICOG qualifications and built a long career attached to leading Mumbai institutions including Breach Candy Hospital, Jaslok Hospital and Wadia Maternity Hospital, where he later became Professor Emeritus.

In the 1960s Dr. Soonawala designed the polyethylene intrauterine device (IUD), offering women a reliable alternative method of birth control. His original work in intrauterine contraception earned him the rare Von Graffenberg Medal from the University of Kiel, West Germany — one of only a handful of people worldwide to receive it. He also modified surgical techniques and designed more than a dozen gynaecological instruments.

He served as Founder President of the Indian Society of Prenatal Diagnosis and Therapy, Honorary Medical Director of the Family Planning Association of India, President of the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (1995–96), and held key positions with the Indian Council of Medical Research and international family-planning bodies. He was also associated with the ethics committees of major institutions and later became Chief Patron and Founding Chairperson of Mahatma Gandhi University of Medical Sciences and Technology in Jaipur.

Trusted by women from every walk of life, he delivered generations of the Kapoor family — including Karisma, Kareena, Ranbir and their children — yet remained equally committed to ordinary patients. “Every mother who walks into the labour room carries the same hopes,” he would tell young doctors. “Our duty is the same for all of them.”

Dr. Rustom Soonawala passed away in January 2025 at the age of 95 after a prolonged illness. He left behind a legacy of clinical innovation, institution-building and lifelong service to women’s health and family planning in India.