History of Medicine: Part 6: Ignaz Semmelweis


Ignaz Semmelweis

After the discovery of cells and bacteria people still believed in  Miasma theory. Which makes sense, don't eat or drink things that smell bad. Our sense of smell is used to protect us but micro-biology tells you why it's bad.

Your mother probably tells you to wash your hands before you eat, after you've been outside, when you sneeze and when you're sick. And though it may not be one of your favorite things to do, you know it's important because germs can get on your hands and make you sick. But back in the 1800s, people didn't know about germs, or that hand washing was important to help stop illnesses from spreading.

Hospital Mystery

In 1846, Hungarian, Ignaz Semmelweis worked in a hospital clinic where mothers came to have their babies. He noticed that a lot more mothers died of an illness called childbed fever when doctors delivered their babies than when midwives delivered them. Midwives are people who are trained to help a mother deliver a baby, but aren't doctors.

Like a detective solving a mystery, Dr. Semmelweis got his first clue about the illness when a friend of his, who worked at the same hospital, died. He cut his finger while examining the body of a woman who died from childbed fever. He soon got sick and died from the same disease.

This made Dr. Semmelweis realize that anyone could get childbed fever, not just new moms. Like a light bulb going off above a cartoon character's head, he figured out that the doctors were handling the bodies of those who died from childbed fever, but midwives weren't.

https://youtu.be/Nr--gu-CTGo

Why do you think most doctors didn't listen to him? What was the consequence? How did he prove his theory?

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