Ignaz Semmelweis

Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis, a Hungarian obstetrician, was a pioneer of using antiseptics and someone I think is one of the most important figures in the history of womens medicine. Born in 1818, Semmelweis is best known for discovering the cause of childbed fever, which was one of the leading causes of female deaths in the nineteenth century. His work took place in 1847, when he was the Chief Resident at the Vienna General Hospital. At that time, the maternal mortality rate in the hospital was alarmingly high, particularly in the "first clinic" where medical students were the ones to treat the mothers in rotation programs. In contrast, much lower mortality rates were seen in the "second clinic", where midwives were trained for treating mothers specifically. Semmelweis set about investigating the reason for this discrepancy.

He conducted research about variables that were different about the two rooms, specifically tracking mortality rate differences during epidemics, seasonal changes, and overcrowding. None of these seemed to cause the death rate issue. However, a revelation hit him when he observed the body handing procedures following the death of his mentor Professor Jacob Kolletschka's death, whose deathbed symptoms also looked like what was on the autopsy on a woman who died of childbed fever. Semmelweis proposed that childbed disease might be a transferable one, spread by touching cadavers and then the mothers in the first clinics who had were highly susceptible after childbirth. He theorized that the disease could be transmitted by contaminated hands, especially from student autopsy work done before they came for their first room labor ward rotations. Because of that, he introduced hand disinfection with chlorine, which brought a significant fall in the death rate.

Despite his remarkable success, Semmelweis was met with fierce opposition from his peers, who rejected his theory since it contradicted the current medical ideas of his time. There was no acceptance of his approach of handwashing for disease prevention, and he thus had his career cast to the sidelines. Without getting the recognition he deserved, Semmelweis passed away, almost totally ignored by practically the entire medical fraternity, in a mental asylum in 1865 at the age of 47. It wasn’t until after his death, with the advent of germ theory and the works of Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister that Semmelweis’ work was validated. Today, Semmelweis is remembered as a crucial figure in the development of modern medicine. His discoveries led to the widespread adoption of antiseptic techniques especially in surgery rooms, saving countless lives. 


-Srinithi