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  1. Ignaz Semmelweis: A historical martyr figure, savior of mothers, and a prophet of bacteriology

    Date(s): July 1, 1818 to August 13, 1865 Location: Vienna, Austria Tag(s): Childbed Fever, Semmelweis 

    During the epidemics in the 18th and 19th century, childbed fever was the most common cause of maternal mortality, accounted for almost half of all deaths related to childbirth, and was the second leading cause of death in women of childbearing age. Childbed fever was a postpartum infection caused by the lack of doctors washing their hands. Doctors came into contact with the “decaying matter”,...

  2. From Death to Life: The Obstetric Improvements of the Early 1930s

    Date(s): January 1, 1930 to December 31, 1930 Location: Croydon, London, England Tag(s): Maternal Mortality, Childbed Fever, Sanitary Conditions, Maternal Medicine, Obstetrics 

    Imagine you are in labor and the only hospital available to you is out of date, needs better sterilization equipment, and does not have proper washing basins. Seven pregnant women died in the year 1930 in Croydon, a borough of London, England due to their pregnancies and unsanitary conditions like those described above. One of these deaths was due to childbed fever, or puerperal fever. Another 36 mothers...