Carl Siegmund Franz Credé (23 December 1819 – 14 March 1892) 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 ar ...

and

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 surg ...

born in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

. In 1842 he received his doctorate from the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (german: link=no, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick Will ...

. In 1852 he became director of the "Berlin School of Midwives" and chief physician of the

maternity ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gest ...

division at the Berlin

Charité The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine) is one of Europe's largest university hospitals, affiliated with Humboldt University and Free University Berlin. With numerous Collaborative Research Ce ...

. Later he was appointed 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 surg ...

and director of the maternity hospital in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

. In Berlin and Leipzig, Credé established out-patient gynecology clinics. He was the father of surgeon Benno Credé (1847–1929) and a father-in-law to gynecologist Christian Gerhard Leopold (1846–1912). Among his better known students at Leipzig was gynecologist

Johann Friedrich Ahlfeld Johann Friedrich Ahlfeld (16 October 1843 in Alsleben – 25 May 1929 in Marburg) was a German obstetrician and gynecologist. From 1863 to 1867 he studied medicine at the universities of Greifswald and Leipzig, where he was a pupil of Carl Si ...

(1843–1929). Carl Credé is famous for introducing the use of

silver nitrate Silver nitrate is an inorganic compound with chemical formula . It is a versatile precursor to many other silver compounds, such as those used in photography. It is far less sensitive to light than the halides. It was once called ''lunar caustic ...

eyedrops as an

antiseptic An antiseptic (from Greek ἀντί ''anti'', "against" and σηπτικός ''sēptikos'', "putrefactive") is an antimicrobial substance or compound that is applied to living tissue/skin to reduce the possibility of infection, sepsis, or putre ...

for the prevention of

ophthalmia neonatorum Ophthalmia (also called ophthalmitis) is inflammation of the eye. It results in congestion of the eyeball, often eye-watering, redness and swelling, itching and burning, and a general feeling of irritation under the eyelids. Ophthalmia can have d ...

in newborns. He used a 2%

silver nitrate solution Silver nitrate is an inorganic compound with chemical formula . It is a versatile precursor to many other silver compounds, such as those used in photography. It is far less sensitive to light than the halides. It was once called ''lunar caustic ...

, and first demonstrated its effectiveness in the early 1880s. During a three-year period, Credé treated 1160 newborns with silver nitrate, with only 0.15% of the infants developing ophthalmia. The silver nitrate solution is sometimes referred to as "

Credé's prophylaxis Credé procedure is the practice of washing a newborn's eyes with a 2% silver nitrate solution to protect against neonatal conjunctivitis caused by ''Neisseria gonorrhoeae''. The Credé procedure was developed by the German physician Carl Sieg ...

" in medical literature. Later, the solution was diluted to 1% silver nitrate, and became a standard practice in obstetrics. Credé is also credited for implementing a procedure to hasten delivery of the

placenta The placenta is a temporary embryonic and later fetal organ (anatomy), organ that begins embryonic development, developing from the blastocyst shortly after implantation (embryology), implantation. It plays critical roles in facilitating nutrien ...

; it being named Credé's manoeuvre. From 1853 to 1869, he edited the "''Monatsschrift für Geburtskunde''", and from 1870 onward, was an editor of the "''Archiv für Gynäkologie''".

Selected works

* ''Klinische Vorträge über Geburtshilfe'', two volumes, Berlin, 1853-1854 – Clinical lectures on midwifery. * ''Ueber Erwärmungsgeräthe für frühgeborene und schwächliche kleine Kinder'', (a treatise on warming devices for prematures and feeble tiny children) Mittheilungen aus der geburtshüflichen Klinik in Leipzig. "Archiv für Gynäkologie", 1884, 24: 128–147. * ''Die Verhütung der Augenentzündung der Neugeborenen''. 1884 – The prevention of ophthalmia of the newborn.Carl Siegmund Franz Credé - bibliography
@

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 bibliograp ...

References

Health and Medical Biographies
(biography of Carl Siegmund Franz Credé) 1819 births 1892 deaths German gynaecologists German obstetricians Physicians from Berlin {{Germany-med-bio-stub