Childbed Fever : A Scientific Biography of Ignaz Semmelweis PDF
by Carter K. Codell Carter, Carter Barbara R. Carter
Part of the Contributions in Medical Studies series
Description
In the nineteenth century, tens of thousands of women died each year from childbed fever.
The Carters describe birthing conditions and medical practices in Vienna during the time when young Semmelweis began to work in a maternity clinic there.
He discovered that childbed fever arose because medical personnel did not wash adequately after dissecting corpses before doing vaginal examinations of women in labor.
After he required students to disinfect themselves, the mortality rate immediately dropped.
However, Semmelweis's views were not accepted by the senior physicians who believed the disease was due to a variety of causes.
After strident attempts to persuade skeptics, Semmelweis was committed to a Viennese insane asylum where he died at age 42, possibly from beatings by asylum guards.
Childbed fever, now called puerperal infection, continues to be a leading cause of maternal mortality, in spite of the best efforts of modern physicians.
Information
-
Download - Immediately Available
- Format:PDF
- Pages:159 pages
- Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing (USA)
- Publication Date:30/05/1994
- Category:
- ISBN:9780313388385
Information
-
Download - Immediately Available
- Format:PDF
- Pages:159 pages
- Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing (USA)
- Publication Date:30/05/1994
- Category:
- ISBN:9780313388385
