Franz Karl Naegele (7 December 1778 – 21 January 1851) was a German

obstetrician Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...

born in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

. His son, Hermann Franz Naegele (1801–1851), was also a noted obstetrician. He earned his medical degree from the

University of Bamberg The University of Bamberg (german: Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg) in Bamberg, Germany, specializes in the humanities, cultural studies, social sciences, economics, and applied computer science. Campus The university is mainly housed in ...

, afterwards opening a medical practice in

Barmen Barmen is a former industrial metropolis of the region of Bergisches Land, Germany, which merged with four other towns in 1929 to form the city of Wuppertal. Barmen, together with the neighbouring town of Elberfeld founded the first electric ...

. In 1807, he became an associate professor at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

, where in 1810 he was appointed a full professor of

obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...

. He is remembered for " Naegele's rule", a standard method of calculating the due date for a

pregnancy Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops ( gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Pregnancy usually occurs by sexual intercourse, but ca ...

. His name is also lent to "

Naegele obliquity Nägele's obliquity is the presentation of the anterior parietal bone to the birth canal during vaginal delivery A vaginal delivery is the birth of offspring in mammals (baby, babies in humans) through the vagina (also called the "birth canal") ...

", also known as an anterior asynclitism. A variety of obliquely contracted bony pelvis where there is arrested development of one of the sacral alae, has also been named after him (Naegele's pelvis).

Selected publications

* ''Beytrag zu einer naturgeschichtlichen Darstellung der krankhaften Erscheinung am thierischen Körper, welche man Entzündung nennt, und ihre Folgen''. Dänzer, Düsseldorf 1804
Digitalization
by the

University of Düsseldorf A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

* * Translated into English by

Edward Rigby Edward Coke MC (5 February 1879 – 5 April 1951), known professionally as Edward Rigby, was a British character actor. Early life Rigby was born at Ashford, Kent, England, the second son of Dr William Harriott Coke and his wife, Mary Elizab ...

in 1829 as ''An Essay on the Mechanism of

Parturition Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the f ...

''. * * * ''Das schräg verengte Becken; nebst einem Anhange über die wichtigsten Fehler des weiblichen Beckens''. (1839); translated into English in 1939 as "The obliquely contracted

pelvis The pelvis (plural pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of the trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis, or pelvic skeleton). The ...

, containing also an appendix of the most important defects of the female pelvis". * ''Lehrbuch der Geburtshülfe'' (1843) – Textbook of midwifery.Yufind library, Yale University
/ref> * "Ein Briefwechsel zwischen Joseph Alexis Stoltz und Franz Carl Naegele der XIII.: Versammlung der deutschen Gesellschaft für Gynäkologie 2.-5. Juni 1909 zum Empfang gewidmet von der Universitätsfrauenklinik Straßburg I. Els". J.H. Heitz, 1909 (Letters to and from Joseph-Alexis Stoltz)

References

ADB Deutsche Biographie * Klinkhammer, Gisela.
Ärztetags-Sonderstempel: Zu Ehren von Franz Karl Naegele
' Dtsch Ärztebl 2001; 98(22): 4/ 4/ 4 {{DEFAULTSORT:Naegele, Franz Academic staff of Heidelberg University People from Düsseldorf German obstetricians 1851 deaths 1778 births University of Bamberg alumni 19th-century German physicians Physicians from North Rhine-Westphalia