''Etiology, Concept and Prophylaxis of Childbed Fever'' () is a pioneering medical book written by
Ignaz Semmelweis
Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (; ; 1 July 1818 – 13 August 1865) was a Hungarian physician and scientist of German descent who was an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures and was described as the "saviour of mothers". Postpartum infections, ...
and published in 1861, which explains how hygiene in hospitals can drastically reduce unnecessary deaths. The book and concept saved millions of mothers from a preventable streptococcal infection.
The book is 524 pages long and includes studies in hospitals conducted in Vienna in 1847. It is claimed to be one of the most comprehensive medical studies ever published. It was translated into English in 1983 by Dr. K. Codell Carter.
Semmelweis's findings challenged conventional ideas about the
incidence of
puerperal fever (also known as
postpartum infections
Postpartum infections, also known as childbed fever and puerperal fever, are any bacterial infections of the female reproductive tract following childbirth or miscarriage. Signs and symptoms usually include a fever greater than , chills, lower ...
or childbed fever), finding that it could be drastically reduced by requiring hand disinfection in
obstetrical clinics. He also cites bed hygiene by washing linens after each patient.
Puerperal fever was a deadly infection, common in mid-19th-century hospitals. Semmelweis proposed the practice of
washing hands with
chlorinated lime solutions in 1847 while working in
Vienna General Hospital
The Vienna General Hospital (), usually abbreviated to AKH, is the general hospital in Vienna, Austria. It is also the city's university hospital, and the site of the Medical University of Vienna. It is Europe's fifth largest hospital, b ...
's First Obstetrical Clinic, where doctors' wards had three times the mortality of
midwives' wards.
Semmelweis had his life ruined at the time of publication because his ideas, though now proved and trusted, seemed impossible. The book contains a 100-page section purely dedicated to disproving many of the claims his critics had made about his research and ideas. Due to said critique, Semmelweis's personal life fell apart, leading to behavioral issues and his eventual death.
Despite this, in today's world Semmelweis is described as the "saviour of mothers."
References
Works cited
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External links
''New York Times''Google books
Medical books
1840s books
1861 books
Austrian literature
Hungarian literature
Obstetrics
Ignaz Semmelweis
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