Ignaz Semmelweis Flashcards
Background
Semmelweis was a doctor in the mid-1850s. At the time, many women in hospital died from childbed fever after giving birth. However, no one knew what caused it.
Thesis
Semmelweis noticed that his medical students went straight from dissecting a dead body to delivering a baby without washing their hands. The woman delivered by medical students and doctors rather than midwives were much more likely to die. Semmelweis wondered if they were carrying the disease from the corpses to their patients.
Conclusion & Result
He noticed that another doctor died from symptoms identical to childbed fever after cutting himself while working on a body. This convinced Semmellweis that the fever was caused by some kind of infectious agent. He, therefore, insisted that his medical students wash their hands before delivering babies. Immediately, fewer mothers died from the fever.
