Stéphane Étienne Tarnier (29 April 1828 – 23 November 1897) was a French

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 ...

who was a native of Aiserey. He studied and practiced medicine in Paris, and is often considered as

doyen A doyen or doyenne (from the French language, French word ''wikt:doyen#French, doyen'', ''doyenne'' in the feminine grammatical gender) is the senior ambassador by length of service in a particular country. In the English language, the meaning ...

of French

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 su ...

during the second half of the nineteenth century. Some of his better-known assistants were obstetricians Pierre-Constant Budin (1846–1907), Paul Bar (1853–1945), Alfred Auvard (1855–1941) and

Adolphe Pinard Adolphe Pinard (4 February 1844 – 1 March 1934) was a French obstetrician who was a native of Méry-sur-Seine. He practiced medicine in Paris, where he was an assistant to Étienne Stéphane Tarnier (1828–1897) and a professor of obstetrics, ...

(1844–1934). Monument Tarnier Paris

Tarnier is remembered for his work involving the

perinatal Prenatal development () involves the development of the embryo and of the fetus during a viviparous animal's gestation. Prenatal development starts with fertilization, in the germinal stage of embryonic development, and continues in fetal deve ...

aspects of obstetrics, and in particular, the treatment and well-being of premature infants. In the 1870s he realized that keeping a constant

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that quantitatively expresses the attribute of hotness or coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer. It reflects the average kinetic energy of the vibrating and colliding atoms making ...

was not sufficient for a premature infant's survival. He believed that isolation,

hygiene Hygiene is a set of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...

, appropriate feeding, and a warm, humid environment were also necessary. Inspired by a device used to incubate poultry, Tarnier introduced prototypes of infant incubators to the Paris Maternité in 1881. These devices were basically wooden boxes with glass lids and compartments that contained hot-water bottles. He called his "baby-warming device" a "couveuse", and through it Tarnier was responsible for a 28% decrease in

infant mortality Infant mortality is the death of an infant before the infant's first birthday. The occurrence of infant mortality in a population can be described by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the number of deaths of infants under one year of age ...

over a three-year period at the Paris Maternité. Tarnier was not the inventor of the infant incubator, but was the first to apply it for regular care of the premature. In 1857

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

Jean-Louis-Paul Denucé (1824–1889) provided the first description of an "incubator crib", and in 1864 obstetrician Carl Credé (1819–1892), constructed a double-wall crib that used circulated hot water to heat the walls of the crib. In the 1880s, Dr. Auvard made modifications to Tarnier's . The "Auvard incubator" was an inexpensive device of simple design that soon became widely popular, and variants of this incubator were still in use into the 20th century. A type of axis-traction

forceps Forceps (: forceps or considered a plural noun without a singular, often a pair of forceps; the Latin plural ''forcipes'' is no longer recorded in most dictionaries) are a handheld, hinged instrument used for grasping and holding objects. Forcep ...

called the "Tarnier forceps" is named after him.

Selected writings

* ''De la fièvre puerpérale observée à l'Hospice de la maternité'', 1858 * ''Mémoire sur l'hygiène des hôpitaux de femmes en couches'', 1864 * ''Description de deux nouveaux forceps'', 1877 * ''Traité de l'art des accouchements'', 1882 * ''De l'asepsie et de l'antisepsie en obstétrique'', 1894.WorldCat Identities
(publications)

References

Invention and Technology Magazine; The Coney Island Baby Laboratory *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarnier, Etienne Stephane 19th-century French physicians French obstetricians 1828 births 1897 deaths People from Côte-d'Or