Ferdinand Adolf Kehrer (16 February 1837 – 16 June 1914) was a German

gynecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined area ...

who was a native of

Guntersblum Guntersblum is an ''Ortsgemeinde''– a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geogra ...

Rhenish Hesse Rhenish Hesse or Rhine HesseDickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 542. . (german: Rheinhessen) is a region and a former government district () in the German state of Rhineland- ...

. He was the father of

neurologist Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...

Ferdinand Adalbert Kehrer (1883–1966).''Ferdinand Adalbert Kehrer''
@

Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograph ...

He studied medicine at the

University of Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (german: Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is named after its most famous faculty member, Justus von L ...

under Ferdinand von Ritgen (1787–1867), at

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

with Karl von Hecker (1827–1882) and in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

under Karl von Braun-Fernwald (1822–1891). From 1872 to 1881, he was a "full professor" of obstetrics at the

, where he also served as director of the ''Frauenklinik''. In 1881 he relocated to 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, ...

as chair of gynecology. Kehrer is remembered for performing the first modern

Caesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section or caesarean delivery, is the surgical procedure by which one or more babies are delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen, often performed because vaginal delivery would put the baby or mo ...

. It involved a transverse incision of the lower segment of the

uterus The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', plural ''uteri'') or womb () is the organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans that accommodates the embryonic and fetal development of one or more embryos until birth. The uter ...

, a procedure that minimizes bleeding, and is still widely used today, typically in form of the

Pfannenstiel incision A Pfannenstiel incision , Kerr incision, Pfannenstiel-Kerr incision or pubic incision is a type of abdominal surgical incision that allows access to the abdomen. It is used for gynecologic and orthopedics surgeries, and it is the most common me ...

, a modification made by

Hermann Johannes Pfannenstiel Hermann Johannes Pfannenstiel (28 June 1862 – 3 July 1909) was a German gynecologist born in Berlin. In 1885 he received his doctorate in Berlin and afterwards worked as a hospital assistant in Posen. He later moved to Breslau, where in 18 ...

in 1900.

On 25 September 1881, in the town of

Meckesheim Meckesheim is a village in south western Germany. It is located between Heidelberg and Sinsheim in the Rhein-Neckar district in the state of Baden-Württemberg. History In 772 and 822 Meckesheim was mentioned for the first times as ''Heim des Me ...

, he performed the first modern C-section. The patient was a 26-year-old woman, and the operation proved to be a success. Prior to Kehrer's operation, Caesarean sections were seldom performed, and when they were, the

mortality rate Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of de ...

of mothers was very high. The following year, Max Sanger (1853–1903), introduced the practice of

suturing A surgical suture, also known as a stitch or stitches, is a medical device used to hold body tissues together and approximate wound edges after an injury or surgery. Application generally involves using a needle with an attached length of threa ...

the uterus' Caesarean wound. He died in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

Selected publications

* ''Die Geburten in Schädellagen mit rückwärts gerichtetem Hinterhaupt'', (dissertation- Giessen 1860) * ''Lehrbuch der Geburtshilfe für Hebammen'', (Textbook of

midwifery Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many cou ...

for midwives), 1880 and 1891 * ''Ueber den Soorpilz– Pulscurve im Wochenbett'', (Heidelberg 1883) * ''Physiologie und Pathologie des Wochenbetts'', (

Physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

and

pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

of the

puerperium The postpartum (or postnatal) period begins after childbirth and is typically considered to end within 6 weeks as the mother's body, including hormone levels and uterus size, returns to a non-pregnant state. The terms puerperium, puerperal perio ...

), in Volumes I and III of P. Müller's Handbuch der Geburtshülfe (1888–89) * ''Lehrbuch der operativen Geburtshilfe'', (Textbook of operative obstetrics), 1891.

References

External links

* ''This article is based on a translation of an equivalent article in the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedia), ...

''. 1837 births 1914 deaths University of Giessen faculty Heidelberg University faculty German gynaecologists German obstetricians People from Rhenish Hesse People from Mainz-Bingen {{Germany-med-bio-stub